Abstract: At approximately 8:30 a.m. on November 24, 2007, Employee #1 and two coworkers started to remove a palm tree. Prior to cutting down the tree, the workers needed to first remove the dead fronds from the crown. Employee #1 climbed the palm tree and was cutting the fronds while one of the coworkers below was collecting them to take to the truck. Employee #1 was using a chain saw to cut the dead palm frond rings while he was secured to the trunk with a rope and a leather tree worker's saddle. Employee #1 was also wearing metal climbing spikes. As Employee #1 was clearing the dead palm fronds that he had cut, several fronds fell on top of him causing him to hyperextend his spine backwards. Employee #1 then climbed down from the palm tree complaining of severe back and chest pain. Employee #1 sustained a fractured lumbar vertebrae and the separation of several ribs from the sternum (costochondral separation). Employee #1 was hospitalized for 11 days.