Abstract: On November 27, 2000, Employee #1 was seriously injured in a fall from a tree while stringing lights for a Christmas display. The place of employment was a botanical garden. Employees were stringing commercial Christmas lights on bushes and trees throughout the garden area. Employee #1 was wrapping lights around the trunk and upper limbs of a daisy tree at the edge of the lawn near the gazebo. There were other employees in the area, but none actually witnessed the accident. Employee #1 had climbed part way up the tree to string the lights on the limbs that branched off from the main trunk. When employee #1 climbed down, she stepped on a cut off stump at the base of the tree which apparently gave way, possibly due to the speed or sudden weight. The stump, which was approximately 18 in. above the sloping ground beneath the tree, was rotted at the bottom and had been scheduled for removal. Employee #1 fell on the downhill side of the tree, and suffered a fracture and torn ligaments in the left leg. Employee #1 was not using a ladder, and had not received safety training for this job. Employee #1 was hospitalized.