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California NURSE Project
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This document is a summary of a larger
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SUMMARY: CASE
193-368-01
A nectarine
picker was busy picking in the orchard. When his basket was
full he would empty it in a bin on the ground. This meant
going up and down the tripod ladder often. A tripod ladder
has a single pole on one side which supports a set of ladder
steps on the other. When emptying his basket, fruit on the
ground would stick to the bottom of his boots.
The
nectarine picker started climbing down the ladder to empty
his basket. Suddenly, his boot slipped off a step. He began
falling when his foot hooked on a step. This flipped him upside
down, smashing his head on the ground and bending his neck
forward. He hung upside down.
Co-workers
released the nectarine picker's foot and lowered him to the
ground. Then they moved him so a tractor could pass by. It
took one half hour to find their supervisor to get instructions
on what to do with the injured worker. Finally, the nectarine
picker was loaded into a van and taken to a hospital.
How
could this injury have been prevented?
- Work
crews should be trained not to move an injured worker, especially
one with a possible neck or spinal injury.
- Employers
should have written safety programs. These programs can
help workers and supervisors identify hazards such as fruit
on boot soles.
- Supervisors
and workers should call 911 if someone has a severe injury.
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Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
document,
CDHS(OHB)-FI-94-005-32
,
was extracted from a series of the Nurses Using Rural Sentinal
Events (NURSE) project, conducted by the California Occupational
Health Program of the California Department of Health Services,
in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. Publication date: February 1994.
The
NURSE (Nurses Using Rural Sentinel Events) project is conducted
by the California Occupational Health Program of the California
Department of Health Services, in conjunction with the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The program's
goal is to prevent occupational injuries associated with agriculture.
Injuries are reported by hospitals, emergency medical services,
clinics, medical examiners, and coroners. Selected cases are
followed up by conducting interviews of injured workers, co-workers,
employers, and others involved in the incident. An on-site
safety investigation is also conducted. These investigations
provide detailed information on the worker, the work environment,
and the potential risk factors resulting in the injury. Each
investigation concludes with specific recommendations designed
to prevent injuries, for the use of employers, workers, and
others concerned about health and safety in agriculture.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090122122913im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/images/line.jpg) |