Naumes, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 10, 2001: Employee slips and falls backwards, hitting his head

On August 10, 2001, Employee #1 parked his car in the dirt parking lot, north of the fruit flume, which was used to move wooden crates into the processing part of the plant. After leaving his car, he walked across the concrete driveway and over to the flume, where his supervisor was. He talked to his supervisor for a f ew minutes, turned and began walking to go get the forklift to begin his workshi ft. When Employee #1 was approximately 12 feet from the flume and his supervisor , he slipped on the concrete and fell backwards, hitting the back of his head. H e remained unconscious for about 2 minutes. Employee #1 was taken by ambulance t o CompCare, then transported to Rideout Emergency for a CAT Scan. The CAT Scan s howed that he had a fractured skull. Employee #1 was immediately sent to U.C. Da vis Medical Center for additional evaluations.

Incident on Aug 31, 1998: Employee's foot crushed when run over by backing forklift

On August 13, 1998, Employee #1, who worked for a fruit farming and processing o peration, was walking behind a forklift in a cold storage area. The forklift too k a right turn at a blind intersection and was out of sight of Employee #1 when a coworker yelled out to him. Employee #1's attention was diverted by the cowork er's call as he entered the blind intersection. He was looking to his left when the forklift began backing up into the intersection, also in response to the cow orker's yell. The vehicle's right front tire ran over Employee #1's left foot, r esulting in crushing injuries.

Incident on Aug 12, 1998: Employee injured in fall from aluminum ladder

On August 11, 1998, Employee #1, a farm worker for a fruit grower, was on an alu minum ladder picking pears when the ladder broke between the sixth and seventh s teps. He fell 14 ft, sustaining injuries that required hospitalization.

Incident on Aug 19, 1997: Employee injured when nail shot into hand

On August 19, 1997, Employee #1 was making new wood bins for a manufacturer of f ruit juice concentrate. He was attempting to pull the clear plastic safety shrou d off a Senco SCN60 flat wound coil nailer, in which the nail gun was still hook ed up to the air pressure. Employee #1's finger was apparently on the trigger an d a nail shot into the bottom of his left palm. He was transported to the hospit al, where he was treated and released. On August 22, 1997, Employee #1 was admit ted for three days for treatment of a related infection.

Incident on Jul 24, 1997: Employee's ankle fractured when struck by falling forklift

On July 24, 1997, Employee #1 was trying to keep a small, electric hand forklift from falling as it was removed, unsecured, from the forks of a forklift onto th e loading dock of a fruit packing shed. The hand forklift fell, landing on his l eft foot and ankle. Employee #1 was hospitalized with a fractured ankle. He was employed by a company that raised and packed fresh fruit.

Incident on Jan 16, 1997: Employee suffers carbon monoxide poisoning

At approximately 8:00 a.m. on January 16, 1997, Employee #1 was inspecting 55-ga llon drum lines as part of an assignment to inspect and clean the drum after flo oding had inundated the building and its contents. Two propane-fueled forklift t rucks were moving pallets of drums within the building and from the interior to outside the building. The forklifts spent a good portion of the time parked and idling in the work area. In addition, two emergency generators were operating wi thin 100 ft of the work area, just outside the building. Within one hour, Employ ee #1 began to get a headache. The headache worsened and she became dizzy as the moving progressed; by the morning break, her headache and dizziness were pronou nced. At 12:00 noon, when the group took a lunch break, she lost consciousness. Paramedics responded within seven minutes and she was transported to Rideout Hos pital, where she was observed and released at 4:20 p.m. the same day.

Incident on Jul 22, 1995: Employee's thumb crushed when caught on rotating shaft

At 9:55 a.m. on July 22, 1995, workers including Employee #1, of Naumes, Inc., w ere in the mezzanine box room making cardboard boxes for the fruit packing shed. The Maxco ME-1600 box machine folds and glues cardboard boxes. The metal shaft is 1 in. square and the plastic strapping material is 1/4 in. wide. Employee #1 was wearing cotton gloves and reached to remove plastic strapping from an unguar ded vertical shafting without stopping or locking out the machine. The rotating shaft and strapping caught his glove and began wrapping it around the shaft unti l he was able to pull it out. Employee #1 was treated for a crushed right thumb with a bone separation fracture of the lower joint requiring two pins and possib le surgery.

Incident on Nov 29, 1994: Employee breaks arm on ladder in pear orchard

At 8:00 a.m. on November 29, 1994, Employee #1 was in a pear orchard, standing o n the eighth step of an aluminum orchard ladder. He was leaning from the ladder, spreading limbs in order to place a spreader stick. A limb broke, causing him t o lose his balance and fall on his right arm. He broke both bones in his lower r ight arm, which required surgery and a three-day stay in the hospital. Employee #1 was probably either extended too far from his ladder or putting too much pres sure on the limb.

Incident on Nov 12, 1993: Employee injured when caught by falling forklift mast

At 10:30 a.m. on November 12, 1993, Employee #1 was seriously injured when the 2 nd stage mast of a forklift fell, catching his head between the 1st stage mast t op and the 2nd stage mast top. Employee #1 and a coworker were replacing the loa d rollers of a forklift. The 2nd stage was raised by a chain wrapped around the forks of another forklift. Employee #1 was up on the back side of the mast check ing the side play of the newly installed rollers. He had asked his coworker, ano ther mechanic, to side shift the load (for unknown reasons). When the coworker t ouched the controls, the mechanic said he heard the chain "pop." The 2nd stage f ell about 3 feet, landing on Employee #1's head and pinning him between the top of the 1st stage and the top of the 2nd stage. The other forklift was used to li ft the 2nd stage while a supervisor removed Employee #1. He was reported to be b leeding from the ears, the mouth, and the nose as well as from the head. Emergen cy crews arrived and Employee #1 was flown by helicopter to the U.C. Davis Medic al Center, where he was treated for severe head injuries including a deep lacera tion over the right eye and a hole exposing his brain on the left back side of h is head.

Incident on Jul 17, 1992: Employee fractures leg in fall from ladder

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on July 17, 1992, Employee #1, of Naumes, Inc., was p icking pears from an aluminum ladder. His basket was approximately half full. Wh en he reached out to pick another pear, he lost his balance and fell approximate ly 16 ft. Employee #1's right leg was fractured in two places, and he was hospit alized. Employee #1 was hired on July 12, 1992, and given a safety orientation b efore starting work. Part of his training included a video on ladder safety. The field foreman also instructed Employee #1 on ladder safety. Employee #1 has bee n doing this kind of work for many years and has worked for Naumes in prior year s, although not recently. The ladder was in good condition and had been properly wedged in the tree before Employee #1 climbed it. No safety violations relating to the injury were found.

Incident on May 22, 1991: Employee injured when tire explodes while inflating

At 8:10 a.m. on May 22, 1991, Employee #1 was inflating a 9.5/9-24 front-lugged tire for a Kubota M4500 LT 4-wheel drive orchard tractor. He had patched the tub e and was inflating it to seat the bead when the unrestrained tire exploded. He was taken to Rideout Emergency Hospital in Marysville, where he was treated for a ruptured spleen, broken ribs, and a crushed wrist. Employee #1 later stated th at he remembered hearing the explosion but not much else, and he believed that h e had been thrown against an adjacent wall. He also thought there was approximat ely 60 pounds of pressure in the tire when it exploded, but that he could not re ad the manually-operated valve. Employee #1 indicated that he had complained abo ut this hand valve 2 weeks before the accident.