UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. Please be aware that the information shown may change, e.g. violations may be added or deleted. For open cases, in which a citation has been issued, the citation information may not be available for 5 days following receipt by the employer for Federal inspections or for 30 days following receipt by the employer for State inspections.

Inspection: 1560356.015 - Land O' Lakes Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Ca Fresno

Investigation Summary

At 5:00 a.m. on October 13, 2021, an employee, a semi-skilled laborer, was clean ing on the second floor of the Evaporator 6 building. The evaporator piping syst em developed a chemical leak, exposing the employee to a chemical vapor that cau sed coughing and irritation of the throat and lungs. The employee was treated fo r lung and throat irritation and released the same day from two different hospit als. On October 14, 2021, the employee was mowing grass and collapsed, later pr onounced dead at a hospital. The employee died of cardiovascular failure, possib ly exacerbated by a chemical exposure at work. A coroner's report was still una vailable at the last inquiry date of March 22, 2022. No conclusive correlation b etween the exposure and the death could be medically drawn without the coroner's complete examination. The final results would be outside the six months the Di vision has to issue citations. However, a chemical exposure to the employee was verified by the employer, via the Division's requested documentation, and emplo yee and union member interviews. On the exposure date, the employer failed to ma intain equipment in a safe operating condition, and failed to put in place admin istrative controls to prevent employees from being exposed.

Keywords:cardiovasc system, chemical, chemical exposure, chemical vapor, heart attack, lung, throat