Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1460109.015 - A&R Farm Contracting, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

At 4:30 p.m. on December 9, 2019, an employee working for a farm labor service was pruning peach trees in an orchard. The employee was standing on an 11-foot tripod orchard ladder when he fell from about the seventh step. He landed on his back on the ground, estimated to be an approximate 7-foot fall. Coworker #1 (employer representative) stated that the employee was overreaching and lost his balance. Coworker #2 (supervisor) took the employee to a clinic, but it was closed, so he took him to the hospital in a private vehicle. The employee was logged as a walk-in at the hospital and was not seen or admitted until 5:30 p.m., at least one hour after his fall. The employee sustained injuries including broken ribs and a head injury. The employee was transferred by ambulance to a medical center in the early hours of the next morning and was hospitalized for five weeks. The employee had developed complications including blood in the lungs and at the brain stem and also developed serious pulmonary complications including pneumonia. The employee was then transferred to a rehabilitation center for neurological recovery and was still there as of May 1, 2020.

Keywords: Agriculture, Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Brain, Brain Bleed, Chest, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Farm, Fracture, Hand Tool, Head, Ladder, Lost Balance, Lung, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Orchard Ladder, Pneumonia, Reaching, Reaching From Ladder, Rehabilitation, Rib, Training, Tree Pruner