OSHA to look into man’s death in Minn. hog barn

By Jeffrey Pieters
 Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
  An accidental death at an Eyota-area hog farm will be investigated by the Minnesota office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
 Twenty-nine-year-old Carlos Ramirez-Perez was found unconscious in a barn’s workroom area Feb. 17. Authorities said they have "strong reason" to believe Ramirez-Perez had been overcome by fumes.
 The incident occurred on the Schoenfelder Farms at 11279 55th St. S.E. in Eyota Township.
 "Minnesota OSHA will review this facility," said agency spokesman James Honerman. The agency will investigate to determine causes and whether existing OSHA standards were violated.
 The agency rarely investigates incidents at family farms, Honerman said.
 The agency’s aim is to prevent future deaths in the workplace, more than it is to penalize businesses for violations, he said.
 There is no set timetable for resolution of the investigation, Honerman said.
 Olmsted County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Behrns said co-workers found Ramirez-Perez, of the Rochester area, unconscious in the barn. They took him outside, began CPR and called 911.
 Behrns said a defibrillator was used by emergency personnel but without success. He was pronounced dead at Saint Mary’s Hospital.
 Behrns said Eyota firefighters did air-sample testing in the barn. In the east wing, which contained the hogs, the sample showed a 29 percent concentration of carbon dioxide. An air sample in the west wing, which was not being used, had 42 to 44 parts per million concentration of hydrogen sulfide, Behrns said. Both are considered high levels, Behrns said.
 It’s believed that Ramirez-Perez was working in the barn’s east wing before he went to the workroom, which is between the barn’s two wings. He was found unconscious about 2:45 p.m.