Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119802197 - Tri Valley Growers Plant 7

Inspection Information - Office: American Canyon District Office

Investigation Summary

On September 3, 1995, Employee #1, a sanitation worker for Tri Valley Growers, was cleaning a dicer machine with a hose. A side cover on the machine fell off and crushed her left thumb, resulting in partial amputation. She does not recall if the hose was caught on the guard and then she pulled the hose, causing the guard to fall. Employee #1 stated she was not sure of what piece of the equipment fell off and hit her. She stated she had cleaned the dicer several times before without incident. Employee #1 was the only sanitation worker on duty that day (Sunday) and there were no witnesses to the accident. The employee had worked for Tri Valley Growers as a sorter since 1984. Shortly after the start of 1995 season on July 15, Employee #1 applied for several other jobs. After working approximately one week sorting, she was transferred to the sanitation crew as a sanitation worker. Employee #1 stated she was trained by the sanitation foreman and a coworker and that the training involved demonstrating how to disassemble the equipment for cleaning.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, GUARD, CLEANING, THUMB, CRUSHED, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT