Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315321059 - Bay Wide Glass, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

On February 14, 2013, an employee was working in a warehouse at Bay Wide Glass, Inc. in Livermore, CA. Bay Wide Glass, Inc. was a glazing contractor, with a California C-17 glazing contractor's license. The company had one location and nine employees. The incident took place in a small warehouse behind the offices, where sheet glass products were brought in, stored, worked on, and shipped out. The company used a modified Perry Model Number PD-3 drywall cart to transport sheet glass between transport vehicles and rack storage in the warehouse. The dry wall cart was configured to hold glass sheets at a nearly vertical angle. The cart supported the sheets 33 inches (0.84 meters) above their bottom edge. From time to time, sheets of glass were left in the cart. Because of a canceled job, ten sheets of 72-inch by 100-inch (1.83-meter by 2.54-meter), 0.25-inch-thick (6.35-milimeter-thick) flat mirror glass sheets had been left stacked in the drywall cart on February 8, 2013. The weight of this stack was approximately 1,440 pounds (653 kilograms). On February 14, the employee was working in the warehouse. The drywall car was in the way, so he tried to move it. The cart and its load tipped over and fell toward him, striking his lower left leg and causing a fracture. The immediate cause of the incident was that the stack of mirror glass sheets loaded on the drywall cart was stored in a manner that created a hazard. The cart was unstable and liable to tip over and fall. The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department informed the Cal/OSHA DOSH Oakland District office by telephone of the incident.

Keywords: FRACTURE, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, WAREHOUSE, GLASS PACK, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, CART, LEG, UNSTABLE LOAD