A Tree Trimmer Dies When He Falls From a Tree

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cierpich, Hank ; Harrison, Robert ; Styles, Laura
• Corporate Authors:
  California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (CA/FACE) ; California. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Branch
• Description:
  A tree trimmer died from injuries received when he fell approximately 30 feet out of the tree he was trimming. He braced his leg on a branch for leverage as he attempted to start a chain saw that was attached to his tool belt. When the branch broke, the victim lost his balance and fell to the ground below. The victim was not secured to the tree even though he was wearing a tree climbing harness with attached lines, positioning lanyard, and climbing gaffs at the time of the incident. The victim was not trained or certified by any arborist or tree association. The CA/FACE investigator determined that in order to prevent future incidents, tree trimming companies and self-employed tree trimmers should ensure that: 1. Proper work procedures and equipment are used. 2. Tree trimming is performed or supervised by tree workers who have been trained and certified by organizations such as the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) or the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). In addition, homeowners who need trees trimmed or removed should: 1. Hire only tree trimmers who are trained and certified by organizations such as the TCIA or ISA.
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Forestry Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Employee-exposure Fall-protection Forestry-workers Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 9 Safety-equipment Safety-practices Training Traumatic-injuries

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Falls ; Hispanic ; Foreign Born Workers ; Landscaping Services
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE12CA010
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044098
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2014-105928
• 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 12CA010, 2014 Feb ; :1-7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Public Health
• 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:bf54a918b457b5e5d09a1cb11db47e164fa1fbe763c3533dec1c11050f432bb26af2a0ba3ec41bd6cdd99cf57044d75b1d55b5b3b9b06bc09f33fcb54989a843
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165149/cdc_165149_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 445.45 KB ]