UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. Please be aware that the information shown may change, e.g. violations may be added or deleted. For open cases, in which a citation has been issued, the citation information may not be available for 5 days following receipt by the employer for Federal inspections or for 30 days following receipt by the employer for State inspections.

Inspection: 1171510.015 - Wm. Bolthouse Farms, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Bakersfield District Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:00 p.m. on August 17, 2016, Employee #1, a sanitation worker, was assigned to clean the Leaf Eliminator North Roller #7, Equipment Identification Number 8 02006, in the North Plant of a In feed/Wash out area, MCC #80. Employee #2, a co worker, was assigned as a shuttle driver to roam the MCC #80 area to ensure that the equipment was in operation. Carrots were brought in on trailers from the fi elds and dumped onto conveyors and then taken to the MCC #80 area. The carrots t hen traveled over the leaf eliminator rollers to separate debris and leaves from the carrots. At approximately 10:45 p.m., Employee #2 checked the Leaf Elimina tor North Roller #7, but did not see Employee #1 working near the machine. At 1 1:00 p.m., Employee #2 made another round to check the area. From 15 feet away, Employee #2 observed Employee #1 on a platform on the north side of the machine, with both of his hands inside of the machine and was kicking his feet. As he ap proached the machine, it was still running, but Employee #1 was now unresponsive . Carrots were still running through the equipment. Employee #2 turned the mach ine off and radioed for help. The opening that Employee #1 reached into was 29 i nches from the platform that he was standing on. The opening was 10 inches wide by 62 inches long. The bottom half of the first roller was exposed by the openi ng. The first roller was one inch inside of the opening. The second roller was f ive inches from the opening. Each roller was three inches in diameter. The first roller turned upward between the second and third roller. The second roller was removed to free Employee #1 from the machine. The in-running nip point was loca ted seven inches from the opening. The opening had a guard but it was hanging on hinges above it. (The equipment will not turn off if the guard is opened.) Empl oyee #1 was wearing a rain jacket and rain pants, rubber gloves, safety glasses and rubber boots. The employee was crushed and killed by the machine.

Keywords:agriculture, agriculture machinery/vehicle, arm, caught in, conveyor, crushed, lockout/tagout, roller--mach/part, unguarded live parts