Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 201353356 - Employee Killed When Struck by Felled Tree

Accident Summary Nr: 201353356 -- Report ID: 0419700 -- Event Date: 05/04/2007
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
310031646	05/04/2007	1799	238910	D.M. Conger Contracting, Inc.

Abstract: On May 4, 2007, Employee #1 was a member of a crew who were performing site clearing operations that were related to a road widening project. Trees that were felled or knocked down by a Caterpillar 320CL excavator were dragged to the removal preparation area, where a chain saw was used to cut them into smaller pieces for transport from the construction site. Employee #1 was in this area using a chain saw. He wore a hard hat, safety glasses and a reflective vest. While he was cutting a tree on the ground, his chain saw got stuck in the tree. He asked a nearby coworker, who was operating a front end loader, for help. The tree was lifted from the ground by the front end loader, and Employee #1 was able to free his chain saw. He asked the coworker to lift the tree a little higher and keep it elevated so that he could finish cutting it. When the tree was lifted, it became a spring pole; that is, it was under tension or stress. When Employee #1 cut completely through the tree, he stumbled slightly forward from the momentum of pushing down on the chain saw. When the tree was cut, a portion of it bounced between two and three feet upward, and when it came down, it struck him in the back of his head. He fell to the ground and died at the scene from skull and spine fractures due to blunt trauma to his head.

Keywords: FRACTURE, HEAD, FRONT END LOADER, TREE FELLING, CHAIN SAW, LOAD SHIFT, CONSTRUCTION, TREE, STRUCK BY, LOST BALANCE

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Highway, road, street		Alteration or rehabilitation		$500,000 to $1,000,000			X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	310031646			Fatality	Fracture	Occupation not reported	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Site clearing and grubbing Fatality Cause: Struck by falling object/projectile

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