Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307028688 - Tosca Natural Stone

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

On July 23, 2004, a warehouseman was assisting the President of the company in locating a specific granite slab for a customer. He was working for Tosca Natural Stone, which is a company that wholesales and retails granite and marble slabs and tiles, and located in San Diego, CA. The employee held the granite slabs while the President flipped though slabs that were stored on their A-Frame storage rack. These granite slabs measured 9 ft by 5 ft and weighed approximately 500 pounds each. The President and the employee had the granite slabs standing up on edge, with the employee holding the slabs upright. The accident occurred in the "Sold Area" of the yard. When the President flipped the third slab, the weight could no longer be manually supported and the President who was at the end of the slabs was able to move out of the way. The employee was in the middle of the slabs and tried to slowly lower the slabs, and step aside. The slabs came down on the employee's left leg. The three granite slabs weighing approximately 1,500 pounds, pinned the employee underneath the slabs and fractured his left femur. The investigation revealed that at Tosca Natural Stone the normal procedure for moving granite slabs was with a forklift and a clamping attachment. In this case, there was no A-Frame rack behind the rack of slabs being moved. Multiple slabs were not supposed to be manually held in an up position. The employee was working for the company two weeks prior to the accident. The employee was trained and instructed to move the granite slabs by clamping them to the forklift attachment. He was never instructed to move the slabs in any other manner.

Keywords: FRACTURE, UNSECURED, PINNED, WORK RULES, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, STORAGE RACK, FALLING OBJECT, LEG, UNSTABLE LOAD, UNSTABLE POSITION