Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 202469946 - Harvester Sustains Fractures When Run over by Pickup Truck
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
314823592 | 02/14/2011 | 0161 | 111219 | Tierra Bella Produce |
Abstract: At approximately 10:16 a.m. on February 2, 2011, Employee #1 was working for Tierra Bella Produce, a cilantro harvesting company that employed up to six employees, at a field in Camarillo, CA. She had been working for Tierra Bella Produce for less than one week when the accident occurred. Tierra Bella's employees harvested cilantro using knives. They would then put a rubber band around the bunch of plants they had cut and put the cilantro bunches in boxes. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was working as one of four harvesters. The four had finished loading the boxes of cilantro onto a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck and were walking away from the truck. As Employee #1 was walking down a row of cilantro plants behind the pickup truck, the other three workers headed diagonally through the field back to their cars. Their supervisor was driving the pickup truck. Because of the boxes stacked on the back of his truck, he was unable to see where he was going in the truck's rear view mirror. He nonetheless started backing up the truck. When he did, he felt the truck roll over an object and heard Employee #1 scream. The supervisor got out of the truck, recognized that he had backed over Employee #1, and called emergency medical services. Employee #1 had sustained fractures to her pelvis, fifth lumbar vertebra, right femur, and wrist. She was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center, and she was hospitalized for a week. The employer never reported the accident to the Division. The Division issued a Serious Accident Related citation for 3706(b) for automotive vehicles operating in areas where their backward movement would constitute a hazard to employees working in the area on foot, and where the operator's vision was obstructed to the rear of the vehicle. Such operations were also to comply with Section 1592(b) of the Construction Safety Orders.
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 314823592 | Hospitalized injury | Fracture | Farm workers |