Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300055209 - National Hydro-Vac Industrial Services, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Omaha Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on April 27, 1999, Employee #1 and a coworker, of Freemyer Company, Inc., a cleaning contractor for Nucor Steel, were vacuuming steel scale from the sublevel of a roll mill stacking table. The sublevel area was about 3,800 sq ft and the floor-to-table height averaged about 7 ft. Two other coworkers, employed by Nucor, were also on the sublevel doing scheduled maintenance on the stacker table. Employee #1 told his coworker that the vacuum hose was malfunctioning, so the coworker went to check for problems at the vacuum truck, which was parked approximately 100 ft north of the building. Approximately five minutes later, one of the Nucor employees told the coworker that Employee #1 was down and was being administered CPR. They said they were approximately 30 ft from Employee #1 when they heard his hard hat strike the floor and saw him on the ground, clutching his chest. They administered CPR and summoned help. Emergency responders transported Employee #1 to the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead of an apparent heart attack. Based on the information in the medical examiner's report, a formal investigation was undertaken to determine if Employee #1 might have been exposed to a caustic gas. He had worked in a lime receiving area for the four days prior to his death, but nothing supported the possibility of an exposure to lime dust as a contributing factor in Employee #1's death. A subsequent addendum to the medical examiner's autopsy report listed spontaneous cardiac arrhythmia as the apparent cause of death.

Keywords: CARDIOVASC SYSTEM, HEART, MAINTENANCE, HEART ATTACK, CLEANING