Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1498453.015 - Medline Industries Inc

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At 9:00 a.m. on August 31, 2020, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured and distributed medical, dental, and hospital equipment and supplies. She was shrink wrapping a pallet of product with plastic wrap. She was using a 4-ft (1.2-meter) stepladder with siderails to finish the job. She fell and struck her head. No other employees witnessed the incident, but it appeared that the employee may have lost her balance just before she fell. The firm's first aid team quickly responded, and a call was placed immediately for an emergency medical response due to the nature of the injury. The employee was taken to a local hospital, where she was admitted at around 2 p.m. later that day. She was hospitalized. The employee was engaging in a practice that the firm did not promote. The firm's procedure was for employees to shrink wrap products manually and for employees to ask for help if it were needed. The firm never encouraged the use of ladders for this task.

Keywords: Concussion, Emergency Response, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Head, Inappropriate Equipment, Ladder, Lost Balance, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Pallet, Stepladder, Training, Work Rules, Work at Elevation, Wrapping