DECATUR - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death Saturday of a contract worker for Archer Daniels Midland Co., following an accident at one of the company's Decatur facilities on Friday.

Francisco Moreno Garcia, 26, suffered severe burns from steam. He had burns over 87 percent of his body, said Sangamon County Coroner Susan Boone. Garcia died at 8:10 p.m. Saturday in the burn unit at Springfield Memorial Hospital, Boone said.

He was transported to Springfield after being treated at a Decatur hospital. Garcia was living in Decatur, Boone said.

OSHA's Peoria-based spokesman Nick Walters declined to release further information Tuesday because of the investigation. OSHA is a U.S. Department of Labor agency that works to ensure employers provide safe and healthful working conditions for their employees.

Walters said the agency has six months to complete its investigation, after which it can impose citations if the company is found to have any safety violations.

"All of us at ADM are profoundly saddened by the loss of Francisco Moreno," said ADM spokeswoman Karla Miller.

Garcia, an employee of ECF Inc., was working on insulation in the ADM bioproducts plant, Miller said.

A statement from ECF, a St. Louis-based industrial construction contracting company, said a full investigation of the incident is under way.

"ECF is deeply saddened at the loss of one of its family," the company statement said. "Our hearts go out to the family of Francisco."

An ECF spokeswoman had no further comment.

Miller said the proper authorities have been notified, and ADM is cooperating with them in the investigation.

"The safety, health and well-being of all who work at our facilities is of the utmost concern to us," Miller said.

The accident at ADM is the second major incident at a Decatur industrial facility in less than a week.

Walters said OSHA also is investigating an accident last week that sent five workers at the Tate & Lyle Inc. plant to area hospitals.

Last year, a worker was killed in an accident at Tate & Lyle. The OSHA investigation into that death remains open with litigation pending, Walters said.

The death at ADM was the first reported at its Decatur facilities in several years. During the 1990s, worker safety became a top concern at the company following the deaths of at least three contractors working at the facility.

Since 2000, the company reduced OSHA reportable injuries by 78 percent, William Manley, ADM's corn plant manager, said during a safety training exercise last year.

Funeral arrangements for Garcia are pending.

Chris Lusvardi can be reached at clusvardi@herald-review.com or 421-7972.