Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. OSHA citation items will be posted 30 (thirty) days after the employer receives the citation(s), except in cases of significant public interest. Posted citation items reflect any amendments to citations that are the result of a prompt settlement, which OSHA encourages. Employers and employee representatives will continue to receive copies of the citation(s) upon issuance.

Inspection: 1455558.015 - Publix Supermarkets, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Fort Lauderdale Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 9:30 p.m. on January 3, 2020, an employee was working for a chain of supermarkets. He was working at one of the chain's grocery stores. He and other employees were unloading groceries from a tractor trailer. The employee was using a Vestil Model WL-100-6-88 industrial scissor lift, with Serial Number S960143-G, and a pallet jack to unload the groceries. He was operating the industrial scissor lift from a platform that had a rusted automatic closing and locking mechanism on one-half of its access gate system. The automatic closing and locking system on the access gate was rusted or stuck in the open position and therefore inoperable. The guardrail system had been designed, engineered, fabricated, and installed by a contractor hired by the grocery store chain. There was not a make, model, or serial number on the system. The assembly had been installed on May 6, 2016. The employee was pushing the pallet jack, when he lost his balance. He fell up against the access gate, which swung open. The employee fell approximately 52 inches (1.32 meters) to the surface below, a concrete loading dock. He suffered a broken arm. He was hospitalized.

Keywords: Access/Egress, Arm, Defective Equipment, Elderly, Equipment Failure, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fracture, Gate, Grocery Store, Inadequate Maint, Loading Dock, Lost Balance, Pallet Jack, Retail Store, Scissor lift, Tractor Trailer, Unloading, Work at Elevation