OSHA investigating firm after worker suffered heat stroke

A Phoenix man who suffered heat stroke last week while helping build a new preschool now the focus of a workplace safety investigation has been discharged after spending five days in a Gilbert hospital.

Gilbert police and fire officials have reported that Wall Tech worker Mark Anthony, 47, and a co-worker, Mark Rowley, 52, also of Phoenix, became sick from apparent heat stress on June 26 while plastering at the future Bridges Preschool at a plaza on the northwest corner of Gilbert and Ray roads in Gilbert.

Rowley was treated and released at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. Anthony remained at the hospital's intensive-care unit for five days. He was released Monday, according to the hospital.

Workers told Gilbert authorities at the scene that a funeral had been held that day for another employee who died at the job site days before. The man's name hasn't been released; however, officials with the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health this week confirmed the death and are investigating whether the work environment was a factor in the recent incidents.

Police and fire officials were called to the site around 2 p.m. as the two men became dizzy and were having trouble breathing. Temperatures by that hour had reached 102 in the Southeast Valley, according to the National Weather Service. A third man became ill but was treated at the scene.

According to a police report, officers said they saw Anthony coughing up a red substance that looked to them like a stucco mixture being used on the site. Police said they didn't find any protective masks on site, raising concerns that the men were suffering ill effects from working with the mixture.

Wall Tech owner Jim Bowles on Thursday said the recent illnesses and death are highly unusual for the small Phoenix subcontractor, which employs about 20 to 30 people.

"I've been in this business since '75 and I've never had anyone pass away," Bowles said, adding that the company takes safety precautions.

Most of Wall Tech's workers are men ages 40 to 60, he noted. Physical labor becomes a riskier job for people in this age range, but Bowles said by this point in their lives, many don't have a choice when it comes to career and need the income.

He noted that temperatures have jumped over 100 degrees much earlier in the season this year, so the company tries to reduce heat exposure by starting work early in the day and ending as early as possible before the heat peaks.

Bowles said the worker who died had suffered a heart attack just as he was exiting his car to begin working on the site. He was not on the plaster crew.

Anthony and Rowley are plasterers, he said, and became ill as they were about to clock out for the day. He said although both are showing signs of a healthy recovery, he is limiting their job duties for now.

Darin Perkins, director of Arizona's OSHA division, said investigators are still studying the circumstances that led to the illnesses and death, and are likely to complete their inquiry in two to three months