Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1369769.015 - Sons Of Derose Trucking Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Redding District Office

Investigation Summary

At 9:45 a.m. on December 7, 2018, an employee, a Class A commercial driver/driver, transported a strawberry harvester from the client's agricultural field in Red Bluff CA to the agricultural field in Anderson CA. He backed the commercial vehicle and flatbed trailer up to the loading dock and was unsecuring the strawberry harvester, preparing the strawberry harvester for unloading. The client loaded the strawberry harvester onto the flatbed trailer of the commercial vehicle. The bin platform was removed from the strawberry harvester and loaded separately onto the front segment of the flatbed trailer. The client secured the strawberry harvester and bin platform to the flatbed trailer. The employee performed a walk around, observing that the load was secure. The employee drove the commercial vehicle from the agricultural field to its destination. Upon arriving at the destination, the employee backed the trailer up to the loading dock, and began removing rope securing the bin platform table. The primary securement for the bin platform table was a metal latch that secures the platform in the upright position. The rope was a secondary means of securement. The latch failed, and the bin platform table struck the employee on the head, injuring his back, neck and head. The employee called both his employer and the client, explaining the accident, and his employer instructed him to go to the hospital. The client's supervisor drove the employee in the client's vehicle to the hospital. No EMS services were contacted. The employee was diagnosed with a fracture to C3 and T5 compression fracture; a broken neck and fractures to the vertebrae in the back.

Keywords: Attachment Hook, Back, Container, Equipment Failure, Falling Object, Flatbed Truck, Fracture, Head, Headache, Loading Ramp, Neck, Overhead Protection, Platform, Restraining Device, Rope, Safety Latch, Struck By, Trailer, Trailer Truck, Truck, Truck Driver, Unsecured, Vertebra