Trical, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Sep 16, 2012: Truck driver falls from top of truck suffers fractures

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on September 16, 2012, Employee #1, a 46-year-old mal e, Tractor driver with Trical Inc., was working on top of truck that has a cage and was not tied off to the cage. Employee #1 sustained a fractured head and rig ht arm injury when he fell off approximately eight-to-ten feet to the ground bel ow. Employee #1 was not wearing fall arrest protection at the time of the incide nt. Employee #1 was transported to San Jose Regional Medical Center. An opening conference was held with Safety Specialist of the company who would not answer q uestions regarding the injury. At the time of this investigation, the scene had been changed. The Safety Specialist was not sure if Employee #1 had his fall pro tection on or not or what operations he was conducting at the time of the incide nt.

Incident on Jul 31, 2009 (fatal): Employee dies after chemical inhalation

At approximately 9:15 a.m. on July 31, 2009, Employee #1, with TriCal, Inc. (an agricultural chemical mixing plant and chemical transfer facility), was filling a cylinder with 115 lbs of liquid chloropicrin and 245 lbs of liquid methyl brom ide. He was adjacent to the cylinder in a ventilated booth. The only personal pr otective equipment he was wearing was safety glasses and boots. When the cylinde r was pressurized to approximately 80 psi, it suddenly ruptured. He was splashed with the chemicals. Employee #1 was transported to Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, CA, where he died at 11:30 p.m. that day from pulmonary edema caused by the inhalation of the chemicals. The cylinder was manufactured and hydrostati cally tested to 480 psi in April of 2006 by Manchester Tank & Equipment Company. The ruptured cylinder was found to have severe internal corrosion but no extern al corrosion. The employer had used the cylinder for various mixtures, one of wh ich contained a detergent and water.