Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1442852.015 - Services To Enhance Potential

Inspection Information - Office: Miosha General Industry Safety & Health Division

Investigation Summary

At 4:30 p.m. on October 31, 2019, an employee was working for a technical or trade school. The employee was a customer or student of the program for one year. He had enrolled to improve his life skills. He had attended class three times per week, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. He participated in Production, where he performed packaging and assembly; Classroom, where he was taught skills; and the Community department, in which he was taken offsite to work in stores. He contracted Legionnaire's disease (legionella pneumonia), and he died. His grandmother reported the Legionella infection and fatality as work-related. It was not known when any contraction of an infection would have taken place. The employee's death certificate stated his multi-organ failure, renal and acute respiratory distress syndrome, severe sepsis, and legionella pneumonia as leading to his death. It was not known what in the workplace could have been the source for the Legionella bacterium. His fatality was determined to be not covered by MIOSHA. An onsite investigation indicated there was no reservoir for water, no basins, no water features, no ornamental fountains, no whirlpools, no eyewashes, no cooling towers, no showers, no evaporative condensers, no fluid coolers, no sump tank, no ice makers, and no humidifiers. No standing water was observed during a walkaround inspection, and no leaks were seen. There was no indication of dead legs in the water supply. The drinking fountains and sinks were used daily.

Keywords: Infection, Infectious Disease, Kidney, Legionnaires' Disease, Lung, Respiratory, Respiratory Tract, Water, Water Cooler