Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310824883 - Moruen Family Farm

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

On October 25, 2007, Employee #1, a seasonal agricultural equipment operator/laborer, was operating an Allen Module Builder during the cotton harvest in Coalinga, California. The module builder was a farm harvest implement which compresses harvested cotton into a module by a physical tamping process. The cotton was transferred into a reservoir (8 feet wide by 10 feet high by 30 feet long), where a hydraulically driven ram with a tamper foot attached to a movable superstructure or bridge traveled on the top of the reservoir side walls. The operator's station was elevated at one end of the module builder with three control valves. One valve moved the bridge back and forth along the long axis of the reservoir, the second valve actuated the tamper to compress the cotton, and the third valve diverted hydraulic pressure to auxiliary systems. As the tamping progresses, cotton collected on the top of the tamper foot and inhibited full upward travel of the ram. Employee #1 removed the cotton from the tamper foot when he stumbled on the operator's footrest and fell forward. Employee #1 stopped his fall with his right hand on the ram, although his body was against the unguarded tamper control valve, causing the ram to retract and catching his hand between the ram housing and the tamper. A crushing injury to his hand resulted in the fracturing of the first metacarpal and soft tissue damage that required surgical repair. Employee #1 was not hospitalized.

Keywords: FRACTURE, AGRICULTURE, MACHINE OPERATOR, HARVESTER, CRUSHED, HAND, UNGUARDED