Broc Cellars: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 19, 2020: Employee fractures heel in jump from ladder

At 7:10 p.m. on August 19, 2020, three employees and the owner of Broc Cellars were preparing grapes for the harvest season. The injured employee was behind the hopper, which is attached to the DIEM wine press on a 20-foot extended ladder. The owner was driving a Nissan forklift with the cascade 10A bin dumper attachment on the forks and a 48x48 bin filled with grapes on the other side of the wine press. Neither party could see each other in this position. Guiding the owner verbally to assist in the position of the bin over the hopper was another employee, standing on a MetachTech mobile scaffold at a height of six feet, without any guardrails to protect in case of a fall. The scope of work that day was to dump bins of grapes in the hopper. As the bin of grapes was lifted via the forklift and was being tilted to dump the grapes, the bin dislodged from the forks and fell on top of the hopper. During this moment, the employee saw the bin start to fall and jumped off the ladder as it was falling. The employee jumped approximately 12-15 feet, landing on his feet and sustaining a bilateral heel fracture, which required hospitalization. The bin was not secured to the forklift, which caused the employee to jump off the ladder. The employer will be cited for not securing loads to the forklift, not having guard rails on a mobile scaffold at a height in excess of 30 inches or higher, and not selecting the appropriate ladder for the task.