Oregon OSHA has fined a custom crush winery in Dundee $11,100 for violating job safety standards designed to protect workers from the hazards of confined spaces. The division cited the winery following an investigation into the death of a worker. The investigation found that at approximately 10:30 a.m. Feb. 1, 2021, a cellar worker was discovered unresponsive in an empty 30,000-gallon wine tank. The employee was tasked with pumping out about 500 gallons of wine remnants known as lees – a mix of dead yeast, grape skins, seeds, stems, and tartrates – from the tank into a secondary tank for further processing. Low-pressure nitrogen gas was being pumped in from the top of the tank to prevent oxidation of the remnants. The employee was asphyxiated as a result of the displacement of oxygen due to the low-pressure nitrogen gas in the tank.
Oregon OSHA cited the winery for the following serious violations:
