Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1377973.015 - Best Way Disposal Co., Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:00 a.m. on January 22, 2019, an employee and his coworker were working at a solid waste landfill in Victorville, CA. It was a permanent site. The employee worked as a transfer driver. He delivered refuse to the dump or landfill. He was operating a "big rig" truck and tractor trailer number 704 to dump trash at the landfill. The employee and his coworker were fulltime employees of the employer. The employee had parked his big rig. He was standing behind the rear door to the trailer and unlatching it so that he could open it and dump the trash. His coworker had parked next to the employee in a separate truck. As the coworker was about to get out of his truck, he saw a large piece of wood or trash fall out of top of the truck the employee was driving and strike the employee. It was a wooden log was about 2 meters (77 inches, or 6.5 feet) long and 0.77 meters (29 or 29.5 inches) in diameter. The truck's load had not been secured from dangerous displacement. The employee suffered fractures to his right ankle, both knees, ribs, head, back, vertebrae. He also suffered torn ligaments. He was airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Hospital. DOSH learned about the incident by telephone call from employer on January 25, 2019. The employer did not comply with reporting requirements; the report was late. DOSH arrived at the site at 11:00 a.m. on February 12, 2019. The employer was cited for a violation of T8 CCR3704: Securing Loads. It was determined that prior to and during the course of the investigation, including, but not limited to February 12, 2019, the employer failed to secure the load from dangerous displacement. As a result, on January 22, 2019 a transport driver was seriously injured when he was struck in the head by a dislodged wooden log measuring 77 inches by 29.5 inches when he attempted to open the trailer door on trailer #704 at the Victorville landfill. The stump was also described as an 8-foot tree stump.

Keywords: Ankle, Back, Emergency Response, Falling Object, Fracture, Head, Knee, Landfill, Log, Rib, Struck By, Tractor Trailer, Truck, Truck Driver, Unsecured, Unstable Load, Vertebra, Waste Proc Fac