Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307336453 - Pacific Cheese Co, Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:07 a.m. on January 12, 2005, Employee #1, a salvage clerk, was on a mezzanine 15 ft above a loading dock on the south side of the building. The structure has a rectangular opening on the east end of the building, and one on the west end of the building. The purpose of these floor openings is to allow cheese and packaging to be passed by forklift from the loading dock up to the mezzanine for storage. The openings are 9-ft-long by 8-ft-wide and protected by a guardrail on two sides and one end. A gate that swings open vertically protects the other end. The gate to the floor opening was not locked. Two coworkers who had keys were not at work. Employee #1 was walking along picking up plastic wrapping bands from the floor. He says he didn't realize he was near the floor opening, or that the gate was open. He recalls he went to pick up a band, but it was stuck under his left foot. When he stood up he lost his balance, fell forward and through the unprotected floor opening. He fell 15 ft striking a 7-ft-tall stack of boxes on a pallet and continued to fall to the concrete floor. Employee #1 was hospitalized with a fractured wrist.

Keywords: FRACTURE, GUARDRAIL, UNGUARDED FL OPENING, WAREHOUSE, STRUCK AGAINST, FALL, LOST BALANCE, UNGUARDED, WRIST