Heat killed a Florida sugar farm worker. The labor contractor is arguing the OSHA fine
A seasonal agricultural worker with a temporary visa died on his first day at work in a Palm Beach County sugar field, and the labor contractor that brought the man from Mexico to Florida is fighting federal regulators’ proposed punishment.
McNeill Labor Management, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s online records, has contested OSHA’s citations and proposed $27,655 fine from the Sept. 16 death. This sends the case to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and a hearing before an administrative law judge. After hearing testimony, the judge can affirm, change or toss the citations or penalties.
McNeill was cited for failing to provide proper protection from heat hazards, as well as not reporting the worker’s hospitalization within 24 hours and not reporting his death within eight hours.
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In the heat of the day
According to investigators with OSHA, the U.S. Department of Labor’s workplace safety arm, the worker came from Mexico on an H-2A visa that allows workers from other countries to temporarily come to the U.S. for seasonal agricultural jobs.
While working on top of sugar cane stacks around 4 p.m. on Sept. 16, investigators said, the man “began experiencing symptoms consistent with heat-related illness and complaining of not feeling well. Shortly after, he collapsed.
“The field in which he worked is about an hour west of West Palm Beach, 20 minutes from the closest road and 22 miles from the hospital to which he was transported and where he later died, stricken by heatstroke.”
McNeill’s website says it’s “a bonded and insured labor resource management company.” State and county records show the company’s run by Wellington residents, president Christa McNeill, a registered nurse, and vice president James McNeill. The company doesn’t list a phone number on its website. The McNeills have not responded to the Miami Herald’s attempts to reach the McNeills through the website’s “Contact Us” email and a phone number listed on U.S. Department of Transportation registration.
“This young man’s life ended on his first day on the job because his employer did not fulfill its duty to protect employees from heat exposure, a known and increasingly dangerous hazard,” OSHA Area Director Condell Eastmond said in the labor department’s release. “Had McNeill Labor Management made sure its workers were given time to acclimate to working in brutally high temperatures with required rest breaks, the worker might not have suffered a fatal injury.”
To file an OSHA complaint, call 800-321-6742 (OSHA) or go to the OSHA website.
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