Abstract: At 11:00 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2007, Employee #1 was working as a ranch hand. Employee #1 was struck in the head by a falling tree branch. The branch was 24 inches in diameter and 70 feet long. The branch weighed approximately 2,000 lbs. The employer operated a commercial avocado ranch in the Goleta, California area. The employer has eleven full time employees. Employee #1, a second employee, a Crew Boss, and the Ranch Foreman were cutting a tree branch that had broken from a mature sycamore tree and had fallen onto the roadway. The branch was limiting access for passing traffic on the road. The crew boss was cutting the tree limbs from the branch, and the two employees were removing the limbs from the area and stacking them on the southern side of the tree. The stack was approximately 25 feet from the trunk of the tree. The branch finished breaking and fell in a southerly direction, striking Employee #1 in the back of the head and killing him. Employee #1 was transported to the Santa Barbara County Coroner's office on Oct. 26, 2007.