Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001A Hazard:

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that workers were exposed to excessive heat: (a) At the Eastgate Nursing & Rehabilitation facility: On or about 8/7/2018, employees of Dirocco Masonry Construction, Inc. were exposed to the hazard of excessive ambient heat during the performance of their duties, which included loading, unloading, removing, cleaning and restacking of bricks. Employees performed the duties between the approximate hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. when the temperature at the worksite reached as high as 91 degrees F and the heat index reached 96.5 degrees F. Such exposure contributed to an employee suffering a heat-related illness which eventually led to his death. The unacclimatized employee became disoriented and collapsed in the afternoon, and arrived at the hospital with a core body temperature of 110.6 degrees F, and died as a result of hyperthermia. The employer failed to take adequate precautions to minimize this exposure.