Company Faces OSHA Fines Due to Farmworker’s Death in Nebraska

A federal safety agency has proposed fining a company in connection with the death of an employee who was working in a Hall County, Nebraska, cornfield.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing penalties of more than $11,600 for Rivera Agri Inc., a provider of temporary farm labor. OSHA says the company failed to protect employees working in excessive heat. A company representative didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

The body of 52-year-old Cruz Urias-Beltran was found in the field on July 12 . A search had begun the evening before when he didn’t return from his detasseling work. He lived in San Luis, Arizona.

Temperatures in the area reached 94 degrees on July 11, but the heat index would have been in the triple digits.