Work habits, training blamed for biologist’s death from plague
by The Associated Press on Nov. 19, 2008, under Body, Local, SpecialPHOENIX – A federal review says unsafe work practices and the failure of supervisors to follow policies and oversee workers led to a wildlife biologist’s plague death.
The biologist, 37-year-old Eric York, died at Grand Canyon National Park last year.
A National Park Service report released Tuesday says York didn’t wear gloves or a protective respirator while handling and performing a necropsy on a mountain lion that had died of the plague.
The report says York’s supervisors didn’t monitor his activities or review job hazards and that critical information wasn’t given to physicians who treated him at a clinic when he became ill.
York was found dead in his home six days after retrieving the dead animal on Oct. 26, 2007.
