16-year-old fatally injured at Florence sawmill remembered as 'humorous,' 'hardworking;' federal, state investigations continue
FLORENCE – A 16-year-old boy who died earlier this month after an industrial accident at a Florence sawmill was "helpful," "humorous," "hardworking" and "the absolute best son, brother, uncle and friend," according to his obituary.
Michael Schuls grew up in Florence and attended Florence High School, his obituary says. He died July 1.
On June 29, deputies and paramedics responded to Florence Hardwoods sawmill after receiving a 911 call at 6:51 a.m. for an unresponsive 16-year-old, according to a news release from Florence County Sheriff's Office. The business, located at 5843 Tower Drive, is near the Michigan border, about 110 miles north of Green Bay.
Schuls was transported and eventually taken to Milwaukee Children's Hospital, where he died from his injuries, the sheriff's office said.
When reached by phone Friday, Jordan Davis, Florence Hardwoods' office manager, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that the company was "absolutely" cooperating with ongoing state and federal investigations.
While Davis declined further comment, including about Schuls' employment at the sawmill, Corporal Jacob Metz, with the Florence County Sheriff's Office, confirmed to the Press-Gazette that Schuls was an employee of Florence Hardwoods when he was fatally injured.
Community 'in absolute shock' after loss of 16-year-old athlete
Schuls played football, basketball, baseball and soccer at his school, and he enjoyed fishing, hunting and spending time with his family, friends and dog, according to his obituary.
Schuls is survived by his parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces and nephew, among other family members and friends, the obituary states.
A donation bank account was opened at Great North Bank to support the Schuls' family "during this difficult time," and a GoFundMe started to help his family after the "horrible tragedy" raised more than $21,000 as of Monday afternoon.
"Our small community is in absolute shock," the GoFundMe page states.
Florence County School District provided students "a place to gather and process this unfortunate event" and "the loss of one of our students" at the high school July 3, according to the district's Facebook page.
Schuls' family declined to comment for this story through Jacobs-Lundholm Funeral Homes & Cremation Services, saying, "At his time, the family is requesting to be able to just grieve on their own."
Coroner identifies cause of death, sheriff's office says teen was alone when injured by machine
On June 29, Schuls was working with another person, who was in charge of the building where the accident occurred, according to the Florence County Sheriff's Office's report, which the Press-Gazette obtained through a public records request.
The person in charge was operating a forklift and went out of the building, leaving Schuls alone for while, the report said. When the person returned, he saw Schuls trapped in the stick conveyer, according to the sheriff's office. After freeing Schuls, the person called 911 and began CPR.
Video from the mill showed Schuls alone in the building, stacking lumber before going over to the sticker machine, according to the report. Sometimes, boards get tangled up, an employee explained, and Schuls "apparently was trying to straighten out the wood," a deputy wrote in the report.
"There was a shut off machine button which (Schuls) did not press," the report said.
According to the video and the report, 17 minutes passed from when Schuls stepped in the middle of the lower conveyor and when he was found. Employees and emergency responders performed lifesaving measures, the sheriff's office said, before Schuls was transported to Marshfield Health Clinic-Dickinson in Iron Mountain.
An autopsy was performed Thursday, and Schuls' cause of death was confirmed as traumatic asphyxia, Florence County Coroner Jeff Rickaby told the Press-Gazette Friday.
Laboratory testing results on samples taken from the victim could take up to two months, Rickaby said.
Two federal agencies open investigations
The Florence County Sheriff's Office closed its investigation into the death, Corporal Metz said Friday, but federal investigations are ongoing.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration opened its inspection from the fatality June 29. That same day, OSHA also opened "a companion health inspection" at Florence Hardwoods, Scott Allen, a Department of Labor spokesperson, told the Press-Gazette Monday.
The agency has six months to complete an inspection, issue citations and propose monetary penalties if violations are found; OSHA does not comment on specifics of inspections until it is finished.
OSHA also made a referral to the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division "due to the fact that a 16 year old was involved in an incident at a sawmill," Allen said. The Wage and Hour Division — which enforces child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act among other issues — opened an investigation, Allen said, but "no further information will be available until the investigation is complete."
"Federal law establishes safety standards and restrictions for young workers in non-agricultural industries," the Wage and Hour Division's website states.
Teens who are 16 or 17 can work in jobs that have not been declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor, according to the division. Most occupations in logging and sawmilling operations are considered hazardous jobs, according to the website.
More: Wisconsin company illegally employed more than 100 children in hazardous work
OSHA previously cited Florence Hardwoods for amputation, injuries
In the last five years, OSHA reported three closed cases at Florence Hardwoods, all from September 2019. The Press-Gazette obtained final citations from OSHA for each.
One case — which was opened Sept. 19, 2019, and resulted in three violations and an $11,271 penalty — involved a situation where an employee had his toes amputated. According to OSHA, the employee was operating a sorting and stacking machine when a sticker became lodged under the table holding it up, and the table fell on the employee's foot.
Florence Hardwoods also did not report an amputation from 2016, as required, according to the citations.
A second case opened Sept. 5, 2019, resulted in eight violations and a $20,553 penalty. An employee was injured that August by falling lumber when they attempted to clear a jam on a sorting bin, OSHA said. Later that month, an employee was injured while clearing a jam on a gang saw and conveyer, according to the citations.
The third case, also opened Sept. 5, 2019, resulted in three violations and a $6,630 penalty. OSHA said containers of chemicals and diesel fuel were not labeled properly and an oxygen cylinder was stored within 20 feet of a fuel-gas acetylene cylinder.
The citations also referred to: tripping hazards, including uncovered holes; fall hazards with a waste chute that lumber was thrown in; employee training; energy control procedures; and guarding around equipment and danger zones, among other issues.
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Wisconsin department opens its own cases, explains what a teen can and can't do in a sawmill
According to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, there are some jobs that teens ages 16 and 17 are allowed to do in sawmills, including:
Work in offices, repair or maintenance shops
Straighten, mark or tally lumber on the dry chain or the dry drop sorter
Pull lumber from the dry chain, clean up in the lumberyard
Pile, handle or ship cooperage stock in yards or storage sheds
Perform clerical work in yards or shipping sheds such as done by order men, tallymen and shipping clerks
Minors of all ages, though, are prohibited, the department said, from doing any of these tasks at a sawmill:
Felling or bucking timber
Collecting or transporting logs
Operation of or assisting in operation of power-driven machinery
Handling or use of explosives
Work on trestles
Portable sawmill
Lumberyard use for temporary storage of green lumber
Entering of sawmill building
Use of chainsaws
So, if the "16-year-old was working at a sawmill for Florence Hardwoods," as had been reported, "he was performing work that was prohibited to him by state law due to his age," John Dipko, a spokesperson for DWD, told the Press-Gazette Friday.
Dipko said the department has no record of complaints against Florence Hardwoods related to previous employment of minors.
The agency has, however, opened a labor standards case and a worker's compensation case after Schuls' death, Dipko said, and "these cases will move forward following the completion of the corresponding federal investigations."
Lawmakers try to change child labor laws in Wisconsin, across U.S.
While 16-year-olds do not need a work permit in Wisconsin, Dipko said DWD introduced an online work permit system earlier this year for 14- and 15-year-olds.
"The teens in our labor force are incredibly hardworking and have never been more important to our economy, which is experiencing record low unemployment," Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek said in a May 19 news release about the system. "... Increasing accessibility of the work permit system goes part and parcel with our mission to advocate for the protection and economic advancement of all Wisconsin workers."
More than 151,00 teens are employed in Wisconsin, and the department issues roughly 35,000 work permits for minors each year, according to the release.
In May, Wisconsin lawmakers proposed a bill that would allow teenagers as young as 14 to serve alcohol in restaurants. Currently, the law is set at 18, and this requirement "causes workforce issues due to an establishment's underage employees only being able to do part of their job," at a time when "Wisconsin is already having severe workforce shortage issues, specifically in the food and beverage industry," the bill's authors said in a memo to colleagues.
Wisconsin joins lawmakers across the country who have introduced legislation that would "let children work in more hazardous occupations" and "significantly roll back labor rules ... to address worker shortages," the Associated Press reported May 25. Meanwhile, child labor violations increased by nearly 70% since 2018, according to the article.
In 2021, the Wisconsin legislature passed a bill that would have extended the hours that some teenagers could work at certain businesses, according to Wisconsin Watch. Governor Tony Evers vetoed the bill, saying it would create "two separate systems of work requirements for employers" and "could result in unintended consequences."
Reach Becky Jacobs at bjacobs@gannett.com or 920-993-7117. Follow her on Twitter at @ruthyjacobs.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: OSHA, state DWD investigate death of 16-year-old at Florence sawmill
