Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126073352 - Unified Grocers Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on October 10, 2008, Employee #1 went to Aisle 36 to pull orders. When he reached the section where he needed to get the merchandise, he stopped the pallet jack by reversing the control handle (it's called plugging). Then, he got off the pallet jack and picked up the merchandise from the storage rack. As he was turning around to put the case on the pallet jack, he noticed that the pallet jack was moving toward him in reversing motion. The pallet jack was only 1 - 1 1/2 ft away from Employee #1, so he threw the case and braced himself for the impact. The edge of control handle of pallet jack hit Employee #1's lower abdomen, and he was pinned between the pallet jack and a pole of storage rack. Employee #1 screamed in pain, and Witness #1, who was waiting for Employee #1's pallet jack to move out of the aisle to collect empty pallets, came over to help. Employee #1 went to the office to report a work-related injury, and the plant manager took him to an industrial clinic, where he was examined and released with modified work duties. Employee #1 kept having abdominal pain, and his girlfriend took him to Lakewood Regional Medical Center the next night, where he was hospitalized for three days for a torn liver and internal bleeding. Unified Grocers is a retailer-owned wholesale grocery cooperative that provides grocery products and services to independent retailers throughout the Western United States. Employee #1 was an order selector, who had worked for the company since May 27, 2007. The pallet jack was manufactured by Yale, and its Model Number and Serial Number were MPC080LEN24T2896 and A905N01948F, respectively. The equipment number was 9271, and it had been in service since 5/16/2008 at the site. The pallet jack was inspected after the incident and no deficiencies were found. Cal/OSHA determined that no Title 8 regulation was violated in connection with the accident.

Keywords: ABDOMEN, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, PALLET, STORAGE RACK