Dear Good Fruit Grower:

If Ben Mann (cover artist, June 2009 Good Fruit Grower) were working for me, he would be immediately given his final check and asked to not come back.

Perhaps, on a good day, I would first ask him to re-read our printed ladder safety manual, and give him a second chance.

The ladder chosen is for indoor use on a level, firm floor. In the orchard, a three-leg ladder would be used to adapt to uneven terrain.

He would be instructed to use a ladder sufficiently tall to reach his work without stretching. It appears there might be ladder enough left to reach his work. If so, he should be made familiar enough with ladder use that he could work without fear of falling. An employee who has to take a death-grip on his ladder top is neither productive, nor safe.

If he is reaching above his head, he would be required to wear protective eye wear. L&I loves to fine growers who let employees risk eye injury from falling objects—and rightly so.

By the way, he is wearing nothing into which to place the fruit he is picking.

Other than that, it is an interesting, colorful picture—obviously painted by a “Coasty.”

Bill Wood
Dawn Song Orchard, retired
Brewster, Washington