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## Occupational Safety and Health Administration

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### Inspection Detail

**Case Status: OPEN**

**Note:** The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. Please be aware that the information shown may change, e.g. violations may be added or deleted.  For open cases, in which a citation has been issued, the citation information may not be available for 5 days following receipt by the employer for Federal inspections or for 30 days following receipt by the employer for State inspections.

#### **Inspection: 1634758.015 - 105341 - Bethel Lutheran Church**

**Inspection Information - Office: Minnesota**

 

**Inspection Nr**

**Report ID**

**Date Opened**

----

**Site Address**: 			   105341 - Bethel Lutheran Church			   810 3rd Avenue SeRochester, MN 55904

**Mailing Address**: 			   810 3rd Avenue Se, Rochester, MN 55901

**Union Status**: NonUnion

**SIC**:

**NAICS**: 813110/Religious Organizations

----

**Inspection Type**: Fat/Cat

**Scope**: Partial

**Advanced Notice**: N

**Ownership**: Private

**Safety/Health**: Health

**Close Conference**: 02/27/2023

**Emphasis**:

**Case Closed**: 

----

**Case Status: OPEN**

#### **Investigation Summary**

**Investigation Nr**

**Event**

At 12:00 a.m. on November 15, 2022, an employee was preparing a John Deere X734 lawn tractor to perform grounds work at a church. The employee was a property supervisor for the church.  At approximately 11:30 a.m., the employee went to the equipment shed to mount a rotary broom on the gasoline powered lawn tractor. The employee was working alone, and was found dead at 3:26 p.m. in the shed with both the personnel and garage door closed. At the time the employee was found, the rotary broom was partially attached to the lawn mower and the outside temperature was 30-31 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire department measured a carbon monoxide concentration of 354 ppm in the shed, and determined that the gas tank on the lawnmower was empty.  Although other gas powered equipment was stored in the shed, it did not appear to have been operated the day of the incident. The employee's cause of death was determined to be carbon monoxide toxicity, as the autopsy report indicated a 62 percent carboxyhemoglobin blood level.

**Keywords:**carbon monoxide, carboxyhemoglobin, gasoline, lawn mower, poisoning, suffocated, tractor, unwitnessed, working alone
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