Deaths in freezers are preventable, experts say

ATLANTA — Trapped in a walk-in hotel freezer with subzero temperatures, Carolyn Robinson Mangham knocked so desperately on the door that the skin on her knuckles had worn away by the time she died, her husband said in a lawsuit.

Mangham, who died at age 61 in March in Atlanta, was among a handful of workers who, in the last 15 years, were found dead in freezers, federal records show.

Some were trapped by broken doors and either froze to death, were overcome by lethal fumes, or suffocated from breathing carbon dioxide vapors that came off dry ice.

Experts say the deaths are preventable, but it’s not likely the federal government will draw up any specific regulations dealing with freezers. One reason: They’re more inclined to enforce broad rules for employers, such as making clear exits available.

“There’s no question that technologies exist — old and new — that could address this issue,” said David Ringholz, chairman of the industrial design department at Iowa State University.

Motion sensors, for instance, could disable doors anytime movement is detected inside a large walk-in freezer, he said. Other experts suggested alarms, a cellphone or even an ax kept inside to help someone get out.

There had been problems with the freezer door at the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel in Atlanta, according to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages. Several months before her death, an exit mechanism failed inside the 12-by-10 freezer, the medical examiner’s report states.

OSHA found that the hotel exposed workers to hazards, and levied a fine of more than $12,000 in Mangham’s death. The hotel agreed to frequent and regular inspections of its freezers, including the door-release mechanisms, the agency said.

After Mangham’s death, her co-workers and their union, UNITE HERE, demanded that emergency buttons be placed inside the freezers so that if someone becomes trapped, that person can alert building security or the fire department.

So far, the hotel hasn’t said whether it plans to install the buttons.