Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126115351 - Safeway Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 5:30 a.m. on January 21, 2001, Employee #1, an order selector who loads truck of products to be delivered to stores following an order from each store, was working in the shipping area where dairy products are being stored and shipped to retail stores. Employee #1 was asked by the foreman if he could work overtime to unload water from a truck. Since it was an easy job, Employee #1 agreed. At that time, the facility was buying water from an outside vendor due to the power shortage. Normally bottled water is also being processed in the facility for distribution to their retail store. Most of the delivery coming in or processed from the company is stacked five cases high. The load of water coming from the outside vendor was stacked on a pallet six cases high. This was the first time a load that was six cases high arrived at the facility and it needed to be broken into five-case-high pallets since the company's normal delivery pallets are five cases high. The day before the foreman asked Employee #1 if he could work overtime to unload water and break it into case high groups Employee #1 was breaking the six-case-high units into five-case-high units by taking the top layer (seven cases make one layer) and put the layers down on a pallet until a five-case-high pallet is built. As Employee #1 was taking one case from the top and putting it down on the floor, his legs started getting numb and weak and his lower back started hurting. Employee #1 lay down on the pallet and could not move. Approximately three pallets of five cases high had already been built at that time when the accident happened. A fork lift operator saw Employee #1 in pain and called his supervisor. Employee #1 was hospitalized with a herniated disk.

Keywords: SPINE, WAREHOUSE, BACK, PALLET, STORAGE AREA, SPRAIN