Laborer Died Due to Hypertensive and Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease with a Contributing Factor of Hyperthermia.

Michigan Case Report: 13MI090
Release Date: June 25, 2014

The following report is the product of our Cooperative State partner and is presented here in its original unedited form from the state. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the individual Cooperative State partner and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

SUMMARY

In the summer of 2013, a male general laborer in his 60s died due to hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease while working outdoors on a hot day. The decedent was conducting grounds keeping work at a machinery moving, warehousing and transportation facility. He worked for several hours in the morning cutting tree limbs. When enough of the cut limbs had been accumulated, he used a backhoe to move the limbs to another area of the facility. At approximately 10:00 a.m., a coworker noticed that the backhoe was stationary where the limb storage area was located. The employee investigated and found the decedent non-responsive and slumped forward in the seat of a non-air conditioned cabbed backhoe. CPR was initiated by employees while emergency response was called. Emergency responders assumed care upon arrival and transported him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Laborer Died Due to Hypertensive and Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease with a Contributing Factor of Hyperthermia. [PDF 213 KB]