Cal/OSHA has issued citations to Hadley Date Gardens Inc. of Thermal for serious workplace safety and health violations following a bee swarm that stung and killed a tree worker.

On July 3, 2017, a tree worker, Gerardo Balbuena, 49,  was spraying water on date palm fruit from the elevated bucket of a spraying rig when a beehive was disturbed. The bees repeatedly stung the worker, who suffered anaphylactic shock and died at the site.

After he was attacked, Balbuena went into cardiac arrest, said Tawny Cabral, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Balbuena, a native of Morelos, Mexico, worked at Hadley Date Gardens for 27 years, said Albert P. Keck, the company’s president. He said Balbuena was a talented and hardworking employee with a loving family. “He is an immigrant that we should be very proud of as Americans,” Keck said.

Keck said he has been working alongside Balbuena since his family acquired the gardens. He recently told Balbuena they were “going to grow old together.”

“Recognized workplace hazards for tree workers include bee and other harmful insect exposure,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum. “Employers must identify and evaluate workplace hazards, and provide appropriate personal protective equipment and effective training to their workers.”

Cal/OSHA issued four citations totaling $41,310 in proposed penalties for workplace safety and health violations, two of which were classified as serious accident-related.

Hadley Date Gardens, Inc. failed to evaluate the worksite for hazardous bee and insect exposure, and failed to establish appropriate safety protocols, which include providing appropriate personal protective equipment and training that could have prevented this incident.

Cal/OSHA’s Tree Work Safety guidelines specifically cite bee stings as a potentially fatal hazard of which employers must be aware.