Orange County Fire Authority: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on May 30, 2012: Worker fractures hip in fall when strap fitting comes loose

At approximately 12:10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, Employee #1 was working as a senior fleet services technician for a county fire authority. He repaired h eavy equipment, and he had been employed with this entity since 2006. On the day of the incident, had started his work shift at 10:30 p.m. He was moving tires f rom one fire truck to use on a relief fire truck, a process that is done at leas t monthly to ensure good tire rotation. He had loaded all four tires from fire t ruck T71 onto the bed of a utility truck in order to transfer the tires to the o ther fire truck. The utility truck was a pickup truck that had been modified wit h two "E-rails" or "E-tracks" at each side for securing winch straps. It also ha d a control to raise and lower the "Tommy Gate" lift gate. Employee #1 was stand ing on the elevated lift gate, which was approximately 37 inches (1 meter) above the ground. He was pulling on a Lift-All hold-down strap to tighten or cinch it through a cam buckle, when one end of the E-track fitting came loose from the E -track rail in the truck. Employee #1 lost his balance from the sudden release o f tension and fell backwards off the elevated lift gate. He landed on his right side and sustained injury to his leg and hip. He sustained a fractured hip that necessitated admission to the hospital for surgery. There were no witnesses to t he incident, as his coworkers and supervisor were working in other areas of the fleet maintenance garage. Nonetheless, they responded immediately when they hear d Employee #1 call out for help. The strap and rails were designed for 1,000 lbs . (4,448 newtons) working load and 3,000 lbs. (13,345 newtons) ultimate strength . Neither the strap nor rails failed. The employer has since reevaluated the pro cedure and has replaced the cam buckle-type strap with ratchet-type straps to el iminate the need to pull the strap to tighten it and to prevent a recurrence of this incident.

Incident on Aug 24, 2011: Recruit firefighter sustains heat exhaustion

On August 24, 2011, Employee #1, a recruit firefighter with the Orange County Fi re Authority, was undergoing training to become a firefighter. At the end of the day, he reported to instructors that he was experiencing discomfort and cramps. Employee #1 was hospitalized for dehydration and heat exhaustion. He claimed to have been acclimated to higher temperatures and hydrated on the day of the inci dent.