SANTA MARIA (California) TIMES March 28, 2007 Farmworker struck by machinery
An injured farmworker was flown to a hospital Tuesday morning after he was run over by machinery in a field southeast of Guadalupe. The man, whose name was not available, suffered moderate injuries to his chest but his current condition was not available, Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow said late Tuesday. Iskow said the man was struck by a farming machine around 10:15 a.m. in a field at 2940 W. Betteravia Road. A CalStar helicopter landed on the field, where about a dozen workers were transplanting produce, and airlifted the man to Marian Medical Center, Iskow said. While the field is owned by Rancho Laguna Farms Inc., the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the man's employer, Salinas Farm Labor Contractor, which is based in Patterson. Salinas Farm Labor supplied the workers to do the transplanting for Plantel Nursery Inc., which is based in Santa Maria. But a Plantel Nursery manager said none of its employees were at the field when the accident happened. Cal OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said investigators will be looking into the events that led up to the accident and will closely review health and safety safeguards to see if they were violated.
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