Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126165067 - Albertson'S Market

Inspection Information - Office: Van Nuys District Office

Investigation Summary

On April 1, 2001, Employee #1 was injured while assisting another employee in the "Back Warehouse". Employee #1 indicates he was working in the "Meat Dept." when a coworker came to him and asked if he had a "caution cone" because the "Night Supervisor" needed help in the "Back Warehouse". Employee #1 stopped what he was doing and followed the coworker to the "Back Warehouse", where he observed the "Night Supervisor" standing by the receiving counter, looking up at a stack of pallets, which according to the "Night Supervisor" was about 15 feet high. Employee #1 asked "What's the problem?", and the "Night Supervisor" said "he had a situation with the products falling off the pallet at the top of the stack". Employee #1 observed that a fork lift was holding the top pallet to keep it from falling off the stack. The pallet had cases of canned soda and boxes of one-gallon water bottles stacked about half and half. He also observed spilled soda on the floor, which the coworker was cleaning up. After discussing the situation with the "Night Supervisor", Employee #1 indicates he was asked by the "Night Supervisor" to "climb up there and off-stack the product on the top pallet down to him, because I'm overweight and you're kind of lanky and it would be easier for you to get up there." According to Employee #1, he asked the "Night Supervisor" - "How am I going to get up there?", and he told him "just climb up the pallets." Employee #1 indicates that he asked the "Night Supervisor" if he would get him a ladder and he said "if you need one I'll get it for you after you get the products down." Employee #1 said "o.k.", and proceeded to scale up the front of the stack of pallets, which were adjacent to the leaning pallets, by placing his feet into the open spaces of the pallets. After reaching the top pallet, he sat down and began handing the product off the top pallet down to the "Night Supervisor". According to the "Night Supervisor", Employee #1 "broke down" two of the four leaning pallets, and he told him he would take the remaining pallets apart by himself. According to Employee #1, he asked the "Night Supervisor" if he could get him a ladder to come down, and the "Night Supervisor" told him "it's kind of a mess back here, why don't you just climb down and I'll stand here and if you fall I'll have your back." Employee #1 began to climb backwards down the pallets by placing his right foot into the opening of the pallet below and placing his left foot in next to it. Then he was trying to locate the next pallet opening with his left foot, and because he could not see where his foot was going, he stepped on a box of cereal instead of the pallet opening. When he placed his weight on his foot, he lost his balance and fell five feet to the concrete floor below. The "Night Supervisor" was standing behind him about two to three feet away and he caught his upper body as he fell and landed with all his weight on his left heel. Employee #1 heard a "popping noise" in his left ankle. He told the "Night Supervisor", who was trying to stand him up, to just lay him down. Employee #1 indicates that he knew something was wrong because he had no feeling in his left leg from the knee down. The paramedics were called, and Employee #1 was transported by the paramedics to St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, where he was hospitalized for four days. He had surgery on his left ankle, which was completely shattered and had to have nine pins and a steel plate inserted in his left ankle. At the time of this interview, the injured employee was still under a doctor's care and was having physical therapy three times a week.

Keywords: FRACTURE, WAREHOUSE, LADDER, FALL, PALLET, ANKLE