LODI NEWS-SENTINEL January 26, 2006
Report: Vineyard death deemed accident By Jake Armstrong The investigation into the death of a farmworker crushed beneath a grape harvester or tractor in a Woodbridge vineyard this summer has ended with no citations issued to her employer, according to a report made public Wednesday. But the accident could lead to a statewide requirement that all workers wear reflective safety vests when laboring near farm equipment at night, though an occupational safety official said such a vest probably would not have made a difference in the woman's death. Maria Laticia Fonseca Quintero, 37, of Galt, died around 10 p.m. on Aug. 31 after she was crushed by the wheels of a mechanical grape harvester, or a tractor following behind, as workers harvested chardonnay grapes in a vineyard on Woodbridge Road. No one in the vineyard saw exactly what happened to Quintero, who was either on the back of the harvester or standing next to it before she died. At least one worker heard Quintero scream, and other workers saw her lying motionless on the ground after being crushed. Her body has since been returned to her native Mexico for burial in September. Officials with the Modesto office of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) determined that Vicente Lopez Farm Labor Contractor, the Stockton-based farm labor firm that employed Quintero, did not violate any of the minimum safety requirements in place to protect workers. Quintero's death was an accident, the report concluded. Lucio Valdez-Basaldua, Quintero's boyfriend for three years before her death, agreed that the death probably was an accident. "It wasn't intentional," he said. An unidentified woman who answered the phone Wednesday at Vicente Lopez Farm Labor Contractor declined to comment on the results of the investigation. Because of the accident, the supervisor of the Modesto DOSH office, John Caynack, earlier this month issued a request for a change in the California Labor Code that would require all workers to wear brightly colored reflective vests when near self-propelled or tractor-pulled machinery at night. Additionally, the request called for at least two working flashlights to be available at the rear of harvesters involved in night operations. The request must pass several departmental approvals before it would come before the DOSH Standards Board, which would hear public comment and approve or deny the request, Caynack said. The California Labor Code sets forth the minimum requirements employers must follow to keep workers safe. That code requires self-propelled farm equipment, such as harvesters, to have one headlight that illuminates up to 50 feet ahead of the vehicle and at least one light to illuminate the rear, Caynack said. He said the harvester Quintero was working on had proper lighting. Basaldua, a former farmworker himself, said he believes farmworkers need greater protections against falls from harvesters. He said he also was concerned with reports that Quintero and others were working at a fast pace in order to finish harvesting the vineyard by dawn. Reflective vests would improve farmworker safety, he said. "It's better that they put that on for visibility," Basaldua said. Yet a reflective vest may not have kept Quintero alive, Caynack said. "It likely would not have made a difference in this particular accident."
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