Landscaping Employer of 23-Year-Old Who Died in 112-Degree Heat Fined $12,000

Thursday, September 29, 2016 | 0

On a landscaping work site in Poplar Bluff in July, 23-year-old Tyler Halsey collapsed after working more than nine hours in the 112-degree heat.

Halsey died in the hospital a day later, his core body temperature registering above 108 degrees.

The federal workplace safety agency issued Halsey's employer, Townsend Tree Service of Muncie, Indiana, one serious citation last week after an investigation of Halsey's death. The citation brought a fine of $12,471.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the penalties this week, declining to name the worker. Halsey's mother identified her son to a local television station in July.

Speaking to KFVS-TV on July 25, Tammy Kennedy said her son had started at Townsend Tree Service four days before his death. He was part of a three-man crew that trimmed trees along overhead power lines.

On July 22, he was flagging traffic, chipping limbs and stacking brush during tree trimming at a site about 26 miles from his Dexter, Missouri, home, according to an OSHA report. Halsey collapsed around 4:30 p.m. after working in direct sunlight since 7 a.m. The heat index was about 112 degrees, OSHA said.

View the citations against Townsend, which include recommendations for employers who send workers into hot environments, here.