OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221394760
U.S. DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
SALISBURY, NC·
Event description
Employee with COVID-19 infection dies
Investigation abstract
An employee was working as a zone maintenance mechanic at a general medical or sometimes as close as 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) from each other. Other zone maintenance workers were COVID-19-positive around the time of the employee's positive COVID-19 test. The first zone maintenance worker to test positive had an onset of symptoms on August 29, 2021. The employee attended meetings and ate lunch with that coworker on August 23 through August 26. The employee reported an onset of symptoms and tested positive on September 1. A third zone maintenance worker had an onset of symptoms on September 5. He tested positive on September 7. Only the third worker who tested positive for COVID-19 was vaccinated. The employee was hospitalized on September 3. He died in the hospital on September 24, 2021. The source of COVID-19 for the first worker surgical hospital. It was a medical center for veterans. Zone maintenance could not be determined. The employee's and the third worker's exposure likely occurred in the zone maintenance meeting/break room as a result of the workers' proximity to each other, especially since they were not wearing facemasks while eating and drinking. All zone maintenance workers positive for COVID-19 were instructed to isolate as soon as their supervisor was made aware of their test results. The employee health department (EOH) conducted contact tracing and attempted contact daily with each worker in isolation. workers typically worked independently, performing maintenance activities in designated buildings at the medical center complex. The employee attended ten- to fifteen-minute meetings twice daily, at the beginning and end of each work shift, with seven other coworkers in a 315 sq ft (29.3 sq meter) room. Most of the workers sat around a table, within 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) of each other. The workers wore facemasks during the meeting. As many as four workers at a time also ate lunch together for about 30 minutes, sitting around the table,
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 75 M
- Event type
- 12
- Occupation code
- 549
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.