UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on September 23, 1998, Employee #1 and a coworker were felling, topping, and stumping trees in the woods one-quarter mile south of the log deck at a logging site. This was Employee #1's first day on the job, and the coworker was training him to top and stump trees that had been felled by the feller machine. They had started to stump a 35 ft long tree when their chain saw ran out of gas. They went back to the path used by the skidder to refuel. The skidder operator took advantage of their retreat to grab the tree they were working on and bring it out to the skidder path to give them clearer access to it. When the skidder operator turned onto the path, the 35 ft long tree struck a stump on the east side of the path, propelling the tree to the west side of the path, where Employee #1 and his partner were refueling the chain saw. The coworker saw the tree coming and yelled to Employee #1 to run, but the tree was too long and too close and it struck Employee #1, landing on top of him. The skidder operator stopped his vehicle while the coworker ran to the deck to get help. Rescue personnel were called and the tree was removed, but Employee #1 was pronounced dead at the scene.