Injury Narrative: Orchard Laborer Falls from Aerial Lift

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On May 6, 2015, a 29-year-old orchard laborer fell from the elevated basket of an aerial lift and suffered a serious head injury. The laborer had five years' experience working in orchards, two of which were with at his employer's orchard. He had received safety training relating to his job duties from his employer. During the growing season, his full-time duties included maintaining the orchard shade cloth system. Horizontal cable wires 17 to 20 feet high supported by poles allowed cloth to be rolled out like a curtain to provide shade for trees. He and other employees worked to extend and roll up the shade cloth as well as maintain the cable system that supports the cloth. On the day of the incident, the laborer was using a three-wheeled aerial lift to access the shade cloth system in order to roll out the cloth. He was working from the lift's elevated basket. He had previously operated this type of lift. He was not using a fall protection harness with a lanyard attached to the basket. As he was manually moving the shade cloth, the supporting cable wire snapped and knocked him out of the basket. He fell 17 feet from the basket to the ground. He was knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture and a traumatic brain injury. He suffered numerous complications related to his injury and was still unable to return to work more than a year later. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Agriculture Education Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Agricultural Machinery Agricultural Safety Agricultural Workers Equipment Operation Equipment Operators Fall Protection Falls Fatalities Harnesses Injuries Personal Protection Personal Protective Equipment PPE Safety Measures Safety Practices Training Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Workers Worker Safety

  More +
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051435
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-148-2016, 2016 Jul; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Injury narrative: orchard laborer falls from aerial lift
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0854448cfec174ce9efca7a2a7aa64a2000ab84c0e0a49eb424441f7b2670cb324f3f67cf4c2d4cc87dd0a07792df5d3026e008e92924451f44d2b02012fc973
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211395/cdc_211395_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 568.42 KB ]