California Department of Health Services
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SUMMARY : CASE
191-002-01
A cantaloupe
picker collapsed and died of heat stroke after four hours
of work. The summer cantaloupe harvest is one of the hardest
jobs in farming. Workers stoop to pick the cantaloupes and
put them in bags they carry on their shoulders. When the bags
are full and weigh about 50 pounds workers carry them to a
truck. Crews are paid by the number of trucks they load in
a day, and so workers do not stop for breaks.
The
worker began picking at 6:00 a.m. At 9:00 a.m. he complained
of a headache. He worked for another hour, and then his crew
took a bus to another field. On the bus he began to pant,
and felt anxious and sick to his stomach. The foreman stopped
the bus and called an ambulance. The worker was taken to the
hospital and treated, but died 36 hours later of heat stroke.
How
could this death have been prevented?
- Have
a person certified in first aid, including knowing the symptoms
and treatment of heat stroke, on every field work team.
- Train
workers to be aware of the dangers of working in the heat.
- Make
crews take breaks and drink water, especially crews working
at piece rate.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
document,
CDHS(COHP)-FI-92-005-07
,
was extracted from a series of the Nurses Using Rural Sentinal
Events (NURSE) project, conducted by the California Occupational
Health Program of the California Department of Health Services,
in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. Publication date: May 1992.
The
NURSE (Nurses Using Rural Sentinel Events) project is conducted
by the California Occupational Health Program of the California
Department of Health Services, in conjunction with the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The program's
goal is to prevent occupational injuries associated with agriculture.
Injuries are reported by hospitals, emergency medical services,
clinics, medical examiners, and coroners. Selected cases are
followed up by conducting interviews of injured workers, co-workers,
employers, and others involved in the incident. An on-site
safety investigation is also conducted. These investigations
provide detailed information on the worker, the work environment,
and the potential risk factors resulting in the injury. Each
investigation concludes with specific recommendations designed
to prevent injuries, for the use of employers, workers, and
others concerned about health and safety in agriculture.
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