UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 4:45 p.m. on July 20, 2019, an employee and a coworker were rem oving tree brushes that had fallen onto pole-mounted coax cable for a telecommun ications company clearing tree limbs and downed trees from pole-mounted coaxial cable following a severe weather event. The weather produced straight lines of approximately 90 mph that blew down trees and tree limbs throughout the city. The employee was using a chainsaw to remove tree branches from the canopy of a t ree that had fallen onto the coax cable. The coworker was acting as a spotter a nd helper for the employee. The employee cut a branch that was partially suppor ting the tree canopy when the coworker saw the tree canopy start to shift and mo ve. The coworker warned the employee, and the employee was struck across the ba ck by the tree trunk portion of the canopy. The employee sustained paralysis fr om a severed spinal cord, a fractured pelvis, fractured shoulder, and multiple f ractured vertebrae. The employee was hospitalized for these injuries.