Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310816350 - Chieftain Harvesting

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:10 a.m. on March 14, 2008, Employee #1 (a foreman), a tractor operator, and a second supervisor/foreman, were involved in lettuce harvesting operations in Holtville, CA. All three employees were employed fulltime by a labor contractor that was based out of Salinas, CA and provided laborers for harvesting produce in Northern and Southern California. As Employee #1 and the supervisor were having lunch, they noticed that a dolly loaded with lettuce was still attached to a trailer. Another employee had not disconnected the dolly from the trailer, which was the normal procedure. The dolly needed to be removed, so that truckers could transport the produce. The supervisor called to the passing tractor operator, and asked him to connect his tractor to the dolly. The operator was backing up the trailer to the dolly but didn't line it up properly to make the connection. Employee #1 signaled the tractor operator to go forward, but the operator misunderstood his direction and went backwards. Employee #1's right ring finger was crushed and partially amputated between the tongue of the dolly and the trailer hitch. The supervisor transported Employee #1 to the El Centro Regional Medical Center. Employee #1 was then airlifted to UCSD Hillcrest Trauma center in San Diego, CA, and he was hospitalized. On March 14, 2008, a neurosurgeon performed surgery to try and reattached Employee #1's right ring finger to his existing tendon and artery. However, the surgery was unsuccessful. On March 18, 2008, the same neurosurgeon told Employee #1 that he was going to have to amputate his finger completely. Five days after the first surgery, a second surgery was performed to amputate Employee #1's finger.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, SIGNALMAN, AGRICULTURE, FINGER, TRAILER HITCH, CAUGHT BETWEEN, TRACTOR, TRAILER, BACKING UP