The Ohio Court of Appeals on Tuesday vacated a state Industrial Commission decision that found an employer didn’t violate certain safety requirements at the time of a fire extinguisher inspector’s death.
Sharmel Culver obtained death benefits following the March 2016 death of her husband, Kenneth Ray Jr., an employee of TimkenSteel Corp., and later sought an additional workers compensation award over claims that the company violated certain safety requirements at the time of the fatality.
Mr. Ray asphyxiated due to unsafe oxygen levels in an elevator control room where he was tasked with inspecting fire extinguishers.
A hearing officer denied the additional claim, questioning whether nitrogen gas present at the time sufficiently met the threshold of “toxic gas” to trigger the additional safety violation against the employer.
Ms. Culver challenged the finding, but a magistrate judge agreed with the hearing officer, finding evidence existed to show nitrogen is not toxic and is not an air contaminant.
Ms. Culver again appealed, and the Court of Appeals found the hearing officer erred in finding that nitrogen is not an air contaminant. It also said that it was “undisputed” that the toxic mixture caused Mr. Ray’s death.
The court remanded the case to the commission to reassess whether the additional comp claim is warranted.