Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126067024 - Rancho Foods

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:00 a.m. on February 5, 1999, Employee #1, a warehouseman, was hit and pinned by a pallet jack against a storage rack. The employee worked for a storage and food distribution company. Employee #1 started pulling work orders at about 10:00 p.m. on February 4, 1999, the beginning of his work shift. It was raining and the pallet jacks were wet. Some of the pallet jacks were not working. Since there were not enough pallet jacks for everybody, Employee #1 was assigned to work with another employee. Employee #1 was loading boxes on the Orange Pallet Jack number 3, which was being operated by the other employee. The other employee was carrying the cargo into the trucks, and Employee #1 would unload the cargo. On the morning of February 5, 1999, at about 5:50 a.m., Employee #1 loaded the last two boxes of the last order before completing his shift. The other employee reversed the pallet jack and Employee #1 was walking along side the pallet jack. Suddenly, the pallet jack started skidding on the wet floor towards Employee #1 as they were passing through a narrow aisle way just outside of the freezer. Employee #1 did not have anywhere to go and the pallet jack pinned him against the storage racks located outside of the cooler. The pallet jack hit him and fractured the lower extremities of both feet. After the accident, emergency medical services were called. The paramedics transported Employee #1 to the White Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted. Four surgeries were performed on the employee's right foot related to this accident.

Keywords: FRACTURE, FOOD PREPARATION, FRONT END LOADER, WAREHOUSE, PINNED, PALLET, SLIPPERY SURFACE, STRUCK BY, FOOT