Inspection Detail

Inspection: 105337828 - Gehring Farms

Inspection Information - Office: Or-E-Salem 1054100

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was employed as a farm laborer and assigned to irrigation. That morning, he had apparently failed to set the parking brake or leave the transmission in park when he parked the pickup truck on the road adjacent to the irrigation pond. The vehicle rolled into the pond and sank. That afternoon, a plan was devised and put into action to retrieve the truck. One foreman floated onto the pond on an inner tube and attempted to locate the truck with a length of PVC pipe, while the other foreman and Employee #1 assisted from the bank. A short time after beginning the search, Employee #1 decided to go into the water on another inner tube. He then dove from the inner tube and attempted to locate the truck. When he resurfaced, the inner tube had drifted away a short distance. He began to swim toward the inner tube and almost reached it before turning toward shore, when he apparently tired and started to struggle. Attempts were made to reach him with a pole, but they proved fruitless. He immediately sank beneath the surface and did not resurface. Employee #1 drowned. One of the foremen dove several times attempting to rescue him, but could not find him in the murky water. The body was recovered several hours later by a diver. Factors contributing to the accident were Employee #1's minimal ability to swim, failure to determine his swimming ability, failure to stop him from entering the water contrary to the plan, and lack of adequate personal protective equipment and proper rescue equipment.

Keywords: PPE, AGRICULTURE, WORK RULES, FATIGUE, DROWN, WATER