Abstract: At approximately 2:20 p.m. on February 26, 2010, Employee #1 was retrieving hay bales from a stack of bales. The stack was approximately 10 bales high and each bale was 14 in. high. He grabbed the string of a hay bale and the string came loose. When the string came loose, the employee lost his balance and fell backwards, 12 ft. He suffered two broken arms. Employee #1 was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, where he was hospitalized. The employee was not using hay hooks as instructed. Instead the employee grabbed the hay bale by the string, which is not intended to be used as a handle by which to lift the bale. The strings are only intended to hold the bale together.