Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126199389 - Consolidated Disposal Service

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At 6:00 a.m. on April 8, 2010, Employee #1, a truck driver with a solid waste collection, transfer and disposal service, began his shift by performing the pretrip inspection on a truck while it warmed up. At approximately 6:15 a.m., he began his route to pickup a load to be dumped at a landfill. After emptying the truck at the landfill, he continued on his route. At approximately 10 a.m., one of the truck arms malfunctioned, and Employee #1 returned to the work yard per instruction from his supervisor. There, a mechanic inspected the arm and replaced the arm pressure switch. At approximately 10:30 a.m., Employee #1 left to continue his route. At approximately 1:00 p.m., an alarm sounded, warning Employee #1 that the truck was overheating. He parked the truck and turned off the engine. He got out of the truck and looked up the radiator reservoir located on the back of the truck cab to assess the problem. Suddenly, the reservoir cap popped out, and hot water splashed toward Employee #1, who placed his hands in front of him to protect himself. Both hands and arms were burned, and he called his supervisor on the radio to report the injury. The supervisor arrived at the scene with another employee, and they took Employee #1 to US Health Works, an occupational medicine and urgent care practice. From there, he was transferred by ambulance to Western Medical Center, an acute care hospital and trauma center in Santa Ana, CA. Employee #1 was diagnosed with second-degree and third-degree burns on both hands and first-degree and second-degree burns on both forearms. He was hospitalized for 15 days. The employer performed an inspection on the cooling system components to identify the problem on the truck after the accident and did not find any malfunction. Cal/OSHA determined that no Title 8 regulation was violated in connection with the accident.

Keywords: BURN, FOREARM, STEAM, WASTE PROC FAC, ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE, TRUCK DRIVER