Teak Warehouse, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Oct 17, 2007: Employee is injured in fall from ladder

On October 17, 2007, Employee #1, a warehouse worker who had been employed for o ver four years, was performing a routine task, loading and unloading merchandise onto the storage racks. The racks had a top shelf that was 12 feet above the fl oor and some of the racks had a middle shelf that was located 5 feet above the f loor. The larger pieces of merchandise were stored at the floor level, while the smaller pieces (boxed and flat items) were stored on the top shelves. Employee #1 was using a stepladder to access the top shelf of one of the storage racks to load merchandise that was stored on the shelf onto a pallet. He then lowered th e pallet to the ground with a pallet jack. He was using a 12 foot ladder, which was the same height as the top shelf. In order to step from the ladder to the to p shelf, Employee #1 had to stand at the step below the topcap of the step ladde r, causing the ladder to become unstable and tip over. He fell to the ground, st riking his head and fracturing his left humerus. No one witnessed the accident. Employee #1 used his cell phone to call his supervisor, who was in the sales flo or area adjacent the warehouse, for assistance before losing consciousness. The employer contacted paramedics, who transported the injured worker to UCLA Harbor Medical Center. Employee #1 was admitted to the hospital, where he remained for two days. Citations were issued pertaining to lack of fall protection/guardrail s at an elevated work location and allowing workers to stand on the topcap and/o r step below the topcap of a stepladder.