Abstract: On the afternoon of February 1, 2002, a coworker directed Employee #1 to remove trees from about halfway down the hill back to the landing, approximately150 yards away. Employee #1 was operating a John Deere 540-B model skidder. After loading a few logs onto the truck, the coworker noticed that Employee #1had not returned the landing with trees. The coworker looked at the area where Employee #1 was and saw the skidder, and not Employee #1. The coworker stopped the loader and went to the skidder and noticed that the skidder was in gear and bumping against a tree. The right rear wheel of the skidder was turning and a tree was in the grapple. Employee #1's body was behind the right rear wheel. The coworker jumped in the skidder, put it in neutral and put the blade down and told a coworker to call for emergency help. The coworker returned to the skidder and moved it forward to make sure it was not on Employee #1. Emergency responders pronounced Employee #1 dead at the scene. The coworker and Employee #1 were the only loggers performing logging activities. Employee #1 had previously worked for the coworker and had been trained by the coworker.