Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1442368.015 - Diamond Road Maintenance Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: American Canyon District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 12:30 p.m. on October 30, 2019, an employee was working for a firm that provided support activities for forestry. He was a fire fighter. He worked with a fire crew all the time, and he was verified to be an employee by the employer at time of contact. He was scouting ahead of the fire crew, by himself, to look for hazards on a wildfire. He came upon a burnt tree that was lying flat on the ground, with a large branch stuck into the ground holding the tree trunk in place. When he moved the branch out of the ground, the fulcrum on which the weight of the tree was supported was altered. Like a teeter totter, the tree shifted, and the branch shot up and hit the employee in the face. He suffered fractures in his left orbital socket and face and several lacerations and contusions to the head. He was hospitalized. He was in the hospital for two weeks. At 11:53 a.m. on November 1, 2019, a fire battalion fire chief from Cal Fire reported the incident to the Cal/OSHA American Canyon district office via phone. The employer never reported the incident to the district office. On November 4, 2019, a compliance and safety officer opened an inspection, via phone, with the employer. A regulatory citation T8 CCR section 342(a) was issued for failure to report the incident. A general citation for T8 CCR Section 3203(a)(2) was issued for the employer's failure to follow its own IIPP (I2P2) as it pertained to addressing tree hazards and the procedures that need to be followed.

Keywords: Contusion, Eye, Face, Fire, Fire Brigade, Fire Brigade/Department, Fire Fighter, Fracture, I2P2, Laceration, Struck By, Tree, Tree Limb, Unstable Position