Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312689458 - Macy'S, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: San Francisco District Office

Investigation Summary

At around 8:45 a.m. on July 21, 2010, Employee #1 was working for the department store Macy's, Inc., as a merchandiser of costume jewelry in the Macy's women's department. Her duties include unpacking jewelry and putting it on display on the sales floor. On the morning of the accident, Employee #1 was unpacking costume jewelry and cleaning up the sales floor in anticipation of the store opening. At approximately 8:30 to 8:45 a.m., Employee #1 began to walk across the sales floor toward an elevator that would take her down to the floor below, so she could use the bathroom. The employer had cordoned off eight walkways on the sales floor between the area where Employee #1 was working and the elevator bank with white, hard plastic chains, suspended at a height of about 1.5 feet off the walkways, to prevent members of the cleaning crew from entering secured areas while the alarms were set. The alarms were off at the time of the accident, but the chains were still in place across the eight walkways. Employee #1 had never been instructed regarding the purpose of the eight chains or cautioned not to step over them. Employee #1 could have reached the elevator without stepping over any of the barrier chains, but the unobstructed path was about three or four times longer than the path blocked by a chain. When Employee #1 arrived at Chain #5, she saw it and decided to step over it, as she had done two or three times in the past. She stepped over the chain and managed to clear it with her right foot, but when she attempted to lift her left foot over the chain, it became caught on the chain. Employee #1 tripped and fell to the ground, shattering her right elbow. She remained on the ground for several minutes until paramedics were summoned to take her to emergency services. She was taken by ambulance to Kaiser San Francisco, where she was diagnosed with a fractured right elbow. Two days later, on July 23, 2010, Employee #1 was admitted to Kaiser Hospital in South San Francisco for surgery to repair the elbow. She remained hospitalized until July 25, 2010.

Keywords: FRACTURE, BARRIER GUARD, CAUGHT BY, WALKING SURFACE, FALL, ELBOW, FOOT