Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1588830.015 - Scheps Dairy, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Eau Claire Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:19 p.m. on April 5, 2022, an employee was using a pressure washer to rinse whey permeate sediment off the interior walls of a 3,500 gallon poly tank and was fatally injured after entering the tank. The tank had a couple inches of product left in the bottom, tank entry was not planned, and there were no direct witnesses of the entry. Shortly before the entry event, the employee called a coworker by telephone and requested that they bring a rope ladder to the tank, because the sprayer wand attachment of the pressure washer fell off inside the tank. The coworker delivered the rope ladder to the employee, and then left the whey permeate building for a couple of minutes to check on manure lagoon pumps in a different area. At approximately 1:19 p.m., the coworker returned to the whey permeate building and observed the employee lying unresponsive inside the whey tank, so they called 911, cut the side of the tank out with a saw that was in their work truck, and pulled the employee out of the tank. Lifesaving efforts at the site were not successful. The employee was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner. The employee died by drowning in liquid whey permeate.

Keywords: CPR, Drowning, Pressure Wash, Tank Cleaning