Viking Staffing: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Mar 18, 2021: Laceration on employee's foot becomes infected

On Monday, February 8, 2021, an employee was working for a temporary staffing agency. He had been sent to work at a facility where raisins were processed. He was working on the evening shift as a food cleanup or sanitation worker. He sanitized food processing equipment. At 8:00 p.m., He was sanitizing a a trough-like machine with a steel blade auger running along the bottom. The machine was stopped, locked and tagged, and its top grate was removed. The employee was using a steam cleaner to sanitize the internal blade and inside of the trough. He was standing on the rim of the machine, which was wet and slippery from the cleaning. The machine was about 50 in. (1.27 m) high at the rim. At its top, the machine was 35 in. (890 mm) across, rim to rim. Measured diagonally, the distance to the auger blade from the rim where the employee was standing was about 45 in. (1.14 m). His foot slipped, and he fell into the trough, striking his right foot against the steel blade. He suffered a deep cut on his right foot. He had to make a trip to the hospital, where he received 11 stitches. The employee was released after treatment to go home. At that time, he was not hospitalized. The wound was not healing. At 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, 2021, the employee went back to the hospital for an infection on his right foot where the initial injury had occurred. This time, he was hospitalized, for three days. The infection and hospitalization were the result of the initial injury. That is what made this a reportable injury. The employee stated that he was told to climb on top of the machine to access the internal parts of the machine. The onsite supervisor disputed this claim and stated that the employee jumped over the machine rather than walk around it during the cleaning process.