Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309992253 - Jerico Products Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento Mining & Tunneling District Office

Investigation Summary

At 4:25 p.m. on April 26, 2007, Employee #1 was working as a foreman or supervisory maintenance technician at a mine or quarry. With another employee, a laborer, he was completing a repair to a conveyor at the end of the day shift. The laborer who was assisting on the repair usually ends his shift at 3:00 p.m., but he had been asked to stay late to help Employee #1 change the conveyor belt on top of the silo. As the repair neared completion, Employee #1 noticed that the time was nearing 4:30 p.m. He instructed the laborer to close the access panel at the head pulley and clock out to go home. Employee #1 said that he would pick up the tools and that they could "train the belt" (adjust it so that it ran straight) the first thing in the morning. The laborer descended to the mill and began clocking out for the day. At the time, Employee #1 said that he too was in a hurry to pick up his tools and go home. As he climbed the portable metal ladder he was using and grabbed his socket wrench, he slipped on the ladder rung and fell on his back. He had extended his right arm in an effort to break his fall, and he fractured both bones, the radius and the ulna, in his forearm in the process. The laborer heard what sounded like something hitting the roof and went back up to the top of the silos to see if Employee #1 was hurt. The laborer assisted Employee #1 down a 30-foot fixed ladder to the main floor of the mill, and the site's administrative assistant transported Employee #1 to a hospital emergency room. Employee #1 was admitted to the hospital at approximately 5:00 pm. The hospital staff decided at 8:00 p.m. that he would need surgery, and it was scheduled for the following morning, April 27, 2007. He was released from the hospital on April 29, 2007.

Keywords: FRACTURE, MAINTENANCE, EXTENSION LADDER, FOREARM, LADDER, SLIP, CONVEYOR, FALL, CONVEYOR BELT