Federal investigators have cited an Indiana landscaping company in the death of a 23-year-old ground crewman who died after being hospitalized with a core body temperature above 108 degrees. OSHA investigators determined the employee collapsed after working more than nine hours in the direct sun when the heat index soared to 110 degrees near Poplar Bluff on July 22, 2016. His is one of 16 heat-related deaths reported to the OSHA since January 2016.

On Sept. 20, 2016, OSHA issued his employer Townsend Tree Service Company LLC of Muncie, Indiana, one serious citation following its investigation. Proposed penalties are $12,471.