Handyman Died When Tree He Was Felling Split Vertically and Struck Him

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  In winter 2012 a male handyman in his late 50s died when a 3-4 foot diameter box elder tree growing at a 45-degree angle "barber-chaired", and the vertically split section broke away from the tree and struck him. The decedent had been hired by a farmer to cut down the tree because it was growing over and into the field. Using a chainsaw to fell the tree, the decedent made a horizontal 6-inch cut approximately 3 feet up from the ground. The tree split vertically at the location of the cut to the top part of the tree. The split piece came away from the tree, striking the decedent. The remainder of the tree was still standing. The farmer, who was working in the field at the time of the incident, came to investigate when he saw the tree move unexpectedly. The farmer found the decedent in a sitting position, pinned face first to the ground with the split piece of wood on his back and called for emergency response. The decedent was declared dead at the scene. Factors which may have contributed to this fatal incident include: 1. The amount of lean of the tree 2. Improper felling technique.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Forestry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Author Keywords: Logging Box Elder Forestry-workers Injuries Injury-prevention Leaning Tree Logging-workers OSHA Region 5 Traumatic-injuries Tree Felling

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Landscaping Services
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE12MI033
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044102
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2014-105932
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 12MI033, 2013 Oct ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b9b4acf433dabd9bdc4248127c8f769957bcabe4671c2f082bc0c4c3066824c32421b9b5a63717c97437ed48341e5aee76bbcc0f9cebd54639318c2bc780a4fb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165145/cdc_165145_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 236.76 KB ]