DATE: October 16,
2003
INCIDENT TYPE: Serious
Injury
LOCATION: District
7
TYPE OF WORK ACTIVITY:
Landscape Weed Spraying
THE ACCIDENT: On September
9, 2003 a Caltrans Maintenance Worker, Fernando Barreto was spraying
weeds atop the retaining wall on the I-105 Freeway, on the westbound
side near the Paramount Blvd. offramp in the City of Paramount, when
he slipped and fell over eight feet onto the freeway shoulder below.
Mr. Barreto sustained serious injuries to his head and torso.
CONCLUSIONS: After
a review of the accident scene, it was discovered that the retaining
wall should have had safety cable railing installed. Retaining walls
more than 1220 mm high are required to have safety cable railing
installed as required by Cal-OSHA regulations, Title 8, Section 1621,
as well as the Department's Highway Design Manual Section 210.5. Cal-OSHA
is currently investigating this accident.
RECOMMENDATIONS: All
staff should be reminded to make sure that all required safety measures
are in place prior to beginning any work, particularly fieldwork. It
is also suggested that employees check locations with retaining walls
and report any instances of safety cable railing not installed per Cal-OSHA
regulations. If any locations are observed without the required safety
cable railing, please report it to your immediate supervisor so that
measures can be taken to ensure compliance with all Cal-OSHA regulations.
Recommendations for compliance:
- A survey of each District
should be conducted to identify all locations in the district where
safety cable railing has not been installed.
- All Maintenance work
performed on foot in areas atop retaining walls should be suspended
until a survey of the District has been completed to identify all
locations where safety cable railing has not been installed.
- Other means of fall
protection should be used until such time as cable railing can be
installed. An emergency contract or some other method used to
install safety cable railing at locations identified from the survey
as requiring railing.
