Accident: 14222541 - Dies After Suffering Heat Stroke And Drowns

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on June 19, 2000, Employee #1, age 16, was cleaning up trash in a ditch in preparation for cutting the grass. He was found dead, lying face down in the ditch, which was filled with approximately 8 in. of water. Employee #1 was last seen alive at approximately 2:00 p.m. The autopsy report stated the cause of death as environmental heat exposure followed by asphyxia secondary to drowning.

construction, cleaning, water, ditch, heat stroke, drown, asphyxiated, high temperature

Accident: 170572762 - Killed When Skidder Pulls Out Stuck Fuel Truck

Employee #1 was backing a fuel truck over a homemade bridge onto the log deck when he cut too sharp and backed the truck into a ditch. He called the skidder over to pull him out. The skidder operator positioned his machine and Employee #1, in full view of the operator, signaled to start pulling. The skidder began extricating the fuel truck when somehow Employee #1 was killed.

logging, truck driver, ditch, skidder, caught between, fuel truck, stuck, mech mat handling

Accident: 170040745 - Killed When Log Truck Overturns

Employee #1 was driving a log truck northbound on a highway when the truck left the road and went into a ditch on the southbound side of the highway. The truck traveled along the ditch until it overturned when Employee #1 tried to maneuver it back onto the road. The truck came to rest on its roof in the southbound lane of the highway. Employee #1 suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

log truck, truck driver, logging, traffic accident, overturn, motor vehicle, truck, ditch, lost control, highway

Accident: 170744403 - Killed When Roller Overturns In Roadside Ditch

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on August 12, 1997, Employee #1 was operating a highway roller on a freshly oiled stone road surface. The vehicle could not negotiate the steep grade, and the roller slid sideways off the shoulder of the road. A coworker attempted to assist Employee #1 by attaching a chain from his truck to the roller and pulling it back down the hill. The truck was moving slowly down the slope when the roller slid off the shoulder and overturned into a ditch, crushing Employee #1. He was transported by ambulance to Tri-County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

roller--const equip, equipment operator, steep grade, overturn, crushed, construction, towed equipment, ditch, slippery surface, work rules

Accident: 201170388 - Injured When Atv Motorcycle Lands In Ditch

At approximately 3:00 a.m. on June 1, 1997, Employee #1, an irrigator for George Aoki Farms, was working on a tomato farm with three coworkers. He was driving a Honda four-wheel ATV on a dirt road around the tomato field to move the irrigation pipe. While he was going down the road, he came to a T-intersection and drove the ATV through the intersection and into an irrigation ditch. He sustained a broken jaw and several broken ribs. He was found about 20 minutes after the accident and was immediately taken to Woodland Memorial Hospital; he was released eight days later.

agriculture, ditch, rib, face, fracture, traffic accident, driver, motorcycle

Accident: 601146 - One Killed, One Injured By Overturned Loader

Employee #2 was driving a Grove Goat loader filled with fruit out of a citrus grove. Employee #1 jumped on the loader's step on the driver's left side and rode along. Employee #2 continued driving slowly alongside a drainage ditch, then turned left to cross a culvert to the other side of the ditch. As the loader was crossing the culvert, Employee #2 was trying to straighten the wheel but did not realize that the vehicle was close to the edge of the ditch. The loader slid down the side of the ditch and overturned to the left, pinning Employee #1 under the vehicle and the load at the bottom of the ditch, drowning him. Employee #2 suffered minor injuries.

agriculture, loader, equipment operator, ditch, work rules, lost control, overturn, drown, water, riding on equipment

Accident: 170081475 - One Killed, One Hospitalized After Trench Cave-In

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on December 1, 1995, four employees were leveling the bottom of a sewer ditch that was approximately 120 ft long, 10 to 12 ft deep, and 5 to 6 ft wide. The side walls consisted of unstable soil. A track hoe was being used to clean the trench. The north wall of the trench collapsed, but only two employees were able to pull themselves out. Employees #1 and #2 were buried in the trench. Employee #1 was pronounced dead at the scene. Employee #2 was transported to a local hospital and admitted.

cave-in, trench, buried, sloping, shoring, construction, unstable soil, ditch, sewer

Accident: 170813547 - Drowns When Pickup Overturns In Ditch

Employee #1, a 20-year-old farm worker, was driving a 1988 Ford pickup truck along an approximately 15 ft wide dirt road in the midst of agricultural fields. An approximately 20 ft wide drainage ditch flanked the north side of the road and a planting field ran along the south side. Employee #1 picked up three coworkers and was backing down the road when the left side tires went onto the drainage ditch embankment. The three coworkers exited the truck just before it overturned and landed on its roof in the drainage ditch, which was filled with approximately 3 ft of water. The truck roof was crushed, pinning Employee #1 in the cab. The coworkers were unable to free him and one ran nearly a mile to the farm shop to request help. The foreman brought a backhoe to the site and with it they were able to move the truck. Employee #1 had drowned.

agriculture, pickup truck, backing up, ditch, embankment, pinned, lost control, drown, truck driver