Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1500588.015 - National Car Wash Solutions

Inspection Information - Office: Iowa 0751910

Investigation Summary

At 8:00 a.m. on October 9, 2020, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured machinery for car washes. He assembled electrical or electronic equipment. He was working in a part of the facility known as Rollover Assembly, Station 4. A finished machine was being moved from Station 4. The employee was pulling parts from racking, awaiting another machine. He was on a working platform. Steel grates were present, but there were not sufficient grates to cover all holes in the walking/working surface. The employee stepped backward, approximately 2 ft, 7.5 in. (2.625 feet, or 0.8 meters) into a hole where no steel grating had been placed. The employee fell through a gap that was approximately 34.75 in. (0.88 meters) across and about 17 in. (0.43 meters) wide. The gap was between the two sides of the working platform. The employee fell approximately 47 in. (1.19 meters) onto a concrete floor. The employee suffered three broken ribs, three broken vertebrae, a broken right ankle, and a head contusion. He was hospitalized. The employer had failed to protect employees from tripping into or stepping into or through any hole that was less than 4 feet (1.2 m) above a lower level by covers or guardrail systems. Employees in the area were exposed to holes in their walking/working surface while they worked in the area and awaited another machine. There were not enough steel grates at station 4 to cover all the holes, and no administrative controls were in place to ensure that holes were covered while employees worked in the area.

Keywords: Ankle, Broken Bone, Contusion, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Floor, Floor Grate, Floor Hole, Floor Opening, Fracture, Guard, Guardrail, Head, Platform, Rib, Vertebra, Walking Backward, Walking Surface