UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At 12:44 p.m. on May 18, 2016, a crew of two employees of a land clearing contra ctor were removing large pine trees and brush from a recently purchased lot, mea suring less than one acre. Employee #1 was responsible for using a chainsaw and trimming the branches off trees that had been taken down. Trees were being broug ht down with a Caterpillar E120B, serial number 7NF03814, yellow excavator. The owner (Employee #2) was lowering the tree with the bucket and thumb of the excav ator until it reached approximately 10 feet from the ground. Once the tree drop ped, Employee #1 was struck in the head by a branch approximately four inches in diameter. The branch was attached to a pine tree that was approximately 80 feet by 41.5 inches wide. A part of the branch impaled Employee #1 in the side of the head. Employee #2 did not notice Employee #1 under the tree until moments after it dropped. Employee #1 was last seen standing approximately 34 feet away from where the tree dropped. Employee #1 died upon arrival to the hospital from cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest resulted from a sunken skull fracture to the righ t frontal skull bone as well as a broken left leg and right wrist.