Inspection Detail

Inspection: 112093489 - California Mid-State Fair

Inspection Information - Office: Labor Enforcement Task Force (Letf) Unit - South

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was hired as a temporary employee off and on during a fair. He came back to work on August 9, 1992, and at about 1:15 p.m. he was asked by a coworker to check an air cooler in the Agricultural Education Building. Because the bottom of the cooler was 11 ft high, Employee #1 chose a 12 ft metal ladder. The ladder was set on a concrete floor that had been waxed and a coworker held the ladder. Employee #1 came down the ladder and noted that the water pump was not working. The coworker went to check the water pump. While he was gone, Employee #1 moved the ladder to the other side of the cooler and went up to see if he could get its doors open. But the feet on the ladder slipped and both the ladder and Employee #1 fell to the concrete floor. Suffering a broken wrist and a broken back, Employee #1 required hospitalization. Longer ladders and stepladders could have been used. The ladder should have been held on the waxed concrete floor as was done when the cooler was checked the first time. Because a supervisor was not around when Employee #1 moved the ladder to check the water cooler again, a general citation, rather than a serious citation, was issued even though serious injuries resulted.

Keywords: FRACTURE, MAINTENANCE, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, SLIP, BACK, METAL LADDER, FALL, SLIPPERY SURFACE, WRIST