Inspection Detail

Inspection: 303800635 - Industrial Maintenance Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Wichita Area Office

Investigation Summary

On August 21, 2001, millwright employees were installing spouting at a grain elevator. The job had started about one hour earlier that day. Employee #1 was on the bin deck of the South Gallery on the east side of the grain elevator with another employee, hoisting up the material from the staging area on the ground. Employee #1 was not doing the hoisting but was holding the rope taunt when the other employee wanted to take a break. When the supervisor joined the employees on the bin deck, Employee #1 started having difficulty breathing and asked his supervisor to retrieve his inhaler from the truck at ground level. The supervisor retrieved the inhaler which Employee #1 promptly used. Employee #1 rested for about ten to fifteen minutes, at which time he indicated that he was okay. Employee #1 and the supervisor then traveled down the gallery to the bin deck of the North Gallery on the west side of the elevator to continue working. Employee #1 again indicated that he was having difficulty breathing. The supervisor asked another employee working in an adjacent area to come and stay with Employee #1 while he rode the manlift down to the ground floor where he called Emergency Medical Services. Meanwhile on top of the bin deck of the North Gallery, Employee #1's difficulty in breathing became severe. When the emergency medical crews arrived they provided CPR and first aid. Employee #1 was hoisted down from the bin deck in a basket and was pronounced dead a short time later. The coroner's reported cause of death of Employee #1 was from complications of asthma.

Keywords: GRAIN ELEVATOR