Tree work incident report 17CA003: bee stings on a raised bucket in a date palm orchard, California

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. This page restates one official fatality report in our own words: case 17CA003 from the California Department of Public Health, Occupational Health Branch, which runs the state FACE program. It covers a foreman who died in an organic date palm orchard while spraying the fruit from an open aerial bucket. No one is named here or in the report. OSHA lists the report under "Other" on its tree care page. The table of every report we read is in the official case library for tree work incidents.

The job and the employer

The employer was a family-owned business that grows, packs and ships dates, with year-round staff of agricultural workers and packers. Its orchards ran from 5 to 40 acres, and the palms are reached from above for pollination, tie-down, covering, harvest and pruning. On the day, two men were washing the webbing of fruit mites off the dates with high-pressure water. One drove a tractor from an enclosed cab. The other stood in the open raised bucket of the tractor-towed spray rig, 40 feet up and 20 feet from the fruit. The weather was sunny at 106 degrees F. The company had a written injury and illness prevention program in English and Spanish that covered heat, work at height, thorns and lifting, but it had no section on insect stings or bites. Supervisors held first aid and CPR training.

What happened

The report says the man sprayed a bunch of dates where a hive was hidden among the palm branches and could not be seen from the ground. Many bees stung him. He lowered the bucket and climbed out, and his co-worker opened the cab door so he could get in. Bees came in with him, and both men were stung in the cab. The co-worker drove further down the row, then both ran from the bees. Several 911 calls were made. While waiting he reported chest pain and trouble breathing, collapsed, and his co-worker started CPR. The fire department found cardiac arrest, gave epinephrine and another drug, and he was pronounced dead at the scene at about 10:13 a.m. on July 3, 2017. The death certificate gives anaphylactic shock due to multiple bee stings.

The report says the man had had an allergic reaction to stings before and had not sought care. His employer did not know of it. He carried no epinephrine auto-injector, and neither his co-worker nor others on the farm were trained in emergency response to stings. After the death, two feral hives were found in the palms that were being sprayed.

What the report says about bees

The report notes that Africanized honey bees are the majority of feral colonies in Southern California, that movement within 50 feet and vibration within 100 feet of a hive agitate them, and that they can stay agitated for days. It says they can settle a cavity of 1 to 5 gallons, such as a utility box, in as little as 12 hours. It does not know which strain was involved. It says the sting venom is no stronger than the European bee but the colony defends in larger numbers. For stinging insects and wasps in tree work by country, see the guide to bites and stings in tree work.

What the report recommends

Two recommendations. First, workers who are allergic to insect stings should see a health care professional about an epinephrine auto-injector, carry it, and tell their employer and co-workers. Second, a hazard assessment, prevention steps and an incident response plan for stings and bites belong in the employer's injury and illness prevention program. The discussion says a survey for stinging insects should cover 100 yards around the worksite, repeated daily, and that work should not go on in an area where a hive is found until it has been removed by a professional. It lists four parts of a stings program: the hazard and where it is, behaviour and clothing precautions, training on what to do when attacked, and first aid including auto-injector training. It adds that the co-worker who got both men clear, called 911 and began CPR acted appropriately. For the paperwork side see the guide to emergency action plans.

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