Inspection Detail

Inspection: 306362450 - Heck Cellars

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 13, 2006, Employee #1 and two coworkers were working at a winery. They were installing brackets on a wall to brace the 3-inch diameter wine pipelines located in the east corner of the winery's finishing cellar, as the pipes were sagging. The workers were positioned on a permanent catwalk approximately twenty feet above the cellar floor. The distance from the wall to the guardrails was 22.5 inches. Employee #1 climbed over the guardrail on the catwalk and stood on the midrail. When he applied force to the pipes to push them into the brackets, the midrail broke. He was not wearing his fall protection, and he fell approximately twenty feet to the concrete floor below the catwalk. He fractured his femur, and he was transported to Kern Medical Center by ambulance. He also developed a fat embolism, which required hospitalization.

Keywords: FRACTURE, GUARDRAIL, AGRICULTURE, PIPELINE, CATWALK, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, LEG