Fatality Investigation Report: Operator Falls from Boom Lift While Tree Trimming

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On April 2, 2020, a 55-year-old operator died after he fell from the basket of a boom lift while trying to pull cut tree branches into the basket. On the day of the incident, the operator was working as part of a three-person crew to remove trees at a residence. It was their first day on the site. Their plan was for the operator and a coworker to first work in the elevated boom lift to limb trees with chainsaws. They decided to bring the cut branches into the basket to prevent them from damaging a garage and shed. They had been working for about an hour. To get the branches into the basket, the operator opened the side access gate of the basket. As he leaned forward through the gate, he fell from the basket to the roof of the shed 12 feet below. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS-Key contributing factors identified in this incident include: 1. Not wearing personal fall protection. 2. Working in boom lift basket with access gate open. 3. Overreaching to cut and pull branches into the basket. 4. Crowding and trip hazards possibly caused by tree branches in the basket. 6. No job hazard analysis (JHA). RECOMMENDATIONS-Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation investigators concluded that to protect employees from similar hazards employers should: 1. Train workers on how to safely operate and work in boom lifts. 2. Ensure that workers always wear personal fall protection when they are exposed to fall hazards while working in boom lifts. 3. Develop an accident prevention program (APP) that describes the hazards associated with tree trimming and tree removal and how to control them. 4. Conduct a job hazard analysis (JHA) before starting a new job to identify the hazards associated with each step and how they will control them. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Preventive Medicine
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Tree trimmers
  • Preventive measures
  • Personal protective equipment
  • PPE
  • Equipment operation
  • Equipment maintenance
  • Equipment reliability
  • Workers
  • Worker safety
  • Work environment
  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-16
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062848
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 52-48-2021, 2021 May; :1-16
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229104/cdc_229104_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.66 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2fec0c326aa5189d0d20061926819488265de9c5f251f6ea0abed42164c42de86d871ff8ef7c6ae7861b93385091134ae17f4d146c85f00a00d6717b22fdc919