Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1445034.015 - Needham'S Mushroom Farms, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Osha Philadelphia Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 6:28 a.m. on November 8, 2019, an employee who worked as a a Harvester was picking mushrooms in a mushroom growing room of a produce farm. The employee was either picking or harvesting mushrooms by hand from the upper growing bed. The employee was walking backward from an edge of the walking surface when she fell through a floor opening over 6 feet onto the concrete floor below. The employee landed on her back. The employee injured her back sustaining a T12 compression fracture and a S3 sacral fracture. EMS transported the employee to the hospital where she was admitted and later underwent surgery (T11-L1 decompression and fusion). The doctors placed rods in her back and later she was released from the hospital. On November 16, 2019, the employee was transferred to a rehabilitation facility. On November 23, 2019, the employee was discharged and sent home for recovery. The employee is required to wear a TLSO back brace, use a walker, has lifting restrictions of two pounds and is undergoing physical therapy. She is expected to make a complete recovery.

Keywords: Back, Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Brace, Concrete Floor, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Farm, Farm worker, Floor Opening, Food Handling, Fracture, Harvesting, Lack of Work Procedures, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Opening, Picking, Rehabilitation, Sacroiliac, Unguarded Fl Opening, Vertebra, Walking Backward, Walking Surface, Work Surface