OSHA fines restaurant $7,000 in food elevator death

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a Wisconsin bar $7,000 for the death of an employee who died when her head got caught in a dumbwaiter.

OSHA says WingDam Saloon and Grill in Fountain City failed to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that were likely to cause death to serious harm to employees.

Twenty-one-year-old Brooke Baures died Dec. 1 from severe head trauma after she became trapped in the food service elevator, or dumbwaiter. She was a standout gymnast at Winona State University in Minnesota who lived in Chetek. She was also a 2011 graduate from Cameron High School.

OSHA says the dumbwaiter lacked safeguards to prevent it from moving when employees would reach in to load and unload it.

The food service elevator has been permanently removed.