Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1466694.015 - Highlands Fuel Delivery, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Concord Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 2:15 p.m. on February 17, 2020, an employee was working for a firm that sold and delivered liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). He worked as an IE technician, someone who repaired instrumentation and electrical equipment. He was at the end of his workday. He had returned to the building he worked out of to turn in his work orders for the day. He parked his service vehicle parallel to the chain link fence out in back of the office. As he exited his vehicle and walked across the parking lot toward the office, he noticed a thick sheet of ice. He must have overlooked an icy patch, for he fell, injuring his left hip. He could not put any weight on it. He crawled toward the fence and held on to it to work his way back to his service truck. He then drove himself home. He notified his manager by leaving a voicemail around 2:51 p.m. saying that he had fallen and was headed home to rest. He also tried to call the firm's service dispatch manager, but the line was busy. Later, the dispatcher called him to assist on an emergency, a leaking tank. The employee replied that he was waiting for an ambulance to arrive due to the amount of pain he was in. The service dispatch manager notified the firm's environmental health and safety (EH&S) manager and service manager. They went to the hospital to meet the employee there. The employee was diagnosed with a broken left hip. He was hospitalized. He stayed overnight in the hospital and had inpatient surgery the following morning. He had not, when the narrative was written, returned to work since. The employer was notified of the injury on February 17, 2020, when the employee was taken to the hospital and kept overnight for surgery. The employer reported the hospitalization to OSHA on February 24, 2020, beyond the required time. The EH&S stated that he was unaware of the reporting requirement at the time of the injury. He added that he reported the hospitalization when he became aware of the reporting requirement.

Keywords: Broken Bone, Driver, Electronic Technicn, Fracture, Frozen, Hip, Parking Lot, Reporting, Service Technician, Slip, Slippery Surface, Technician, Truck