E.L. Services, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 31, 2020: Worker falls off wall while cutting back vines and fractures

At 9:35 a.m. on August 31, 2020, an employee was working as a laborer for a landscaping service. The service was performing landscaping maintenance work at an apartment complex. The employee was using extension trimmers and saws to cut back vines that had grown up concrete walls. The employee was standing on top of a 14-foot-tall (4.3-meter-tall) concrete wall to cut away the vine. The wall had a guardrail to keep people from falling over it. The employee climbed over the guardrail to finish cutting process and removing all pieces of vine. He fell 14 feet (4.3 meters) to the ground below. The employee suffered fractures to his left wrist and hip. He was hospitalized. The employer reported the incident to the Division at 9:00 a.m. on the following day, satisfying the reporting requirement. The employer failed to identify, evaluate, and correct unsafe work conditions and practices associated with employees climbing over railings protecting them from falls while trimming vines. Had the employee cut the vine with the extension tools from ground level, t prevented the incident would have been prevented.