Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1505460.015 - Foremost Farms Usa

Inspection Information - Office: Appleton Area Office

Investigation Summary

At about 2:30 p.m. on December 4, 2020, an employee was working for a firm that made cheese. He was an intake antibiotic worker. A truck driver for a milk hauler had backed a 2014 Walker 6,500-gallon (24,600-liter) tank trailer into bay 4 of the facility's intake building. The driver would unload it. The firm's employees accessed the tops of tank trailers via a catwalk to the correct bay. With a tanker in the bay, employees pushed on a permanently installed guardrail system, lowering steps for them to step down onto a tank trailer. The system was suspended from the building's ceiling. It extended 12 feet, 3 in. (3.73 m). Drivers backed trailers into the bay section as straight as they could so that the system could best protect the employees. Some trailers had black slip-resistant tape on the top; others had small catwalk platforms for employees to stand on while taking temperatures; and still others had complete catwalks from the back of the trailer all the way to the hatch, enabling employees not to have to walk on the rounded surface. In this incident, the top of the tank did not have slip-resistant tape. A small platform was next to the tank's hatch, but the employee had to walk part of the way on a rounded surface. He had sprayed off the top, but a residue of milk and slime remained. The tank was 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. Its top was 10 feet (3.05 meters) above the concrete floor. The employee went onto the trailer to open the hatch and take the temperature of the product. He felt his boot lose traction, and he began to fall. He fell on the passenger side, between the tank and the guardrail. He heard a tear, the result of either an attempt to catch his fall on the ladder on the side of the tank or because his arm got caught. He had to let go of his grip, hoping to land on his feet. He did. He got the attention of the driver, who got help. The employee suffered a left shoulder fracture and dislocation and a right shoulder muscle tear. He was hospitalized.

Keywords: Agriculture, Catwalk, Dislocated, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Food processing, Fracture, Guardrail, Hatch, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Shoulder, Slip, Slippery Surface, Tank Truck, Tripped, Truck Driver, Walking Surface, Work at Elevation