Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1213935.015 - 70679 - Allcare Tree Surgery Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Sc Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on February 16, 2017, a tree trimming crew of five employees were removing tree debris and damage that was caused months prior during a hurricane. The skid steer operator was approximately 75 feet away removing tree debris from the area to the roadside. Coworker #1 was approximately 27 feet away climbing a tree to begin cutting, and Coworker #2 was approximately 10 feet in the air working out of the bucket truck cutting down a tree branch from a live oak that was partially hanging and partially caught in a brush of bamboo. The site foreman and an employee were standing back watching coworkers climbing the tree. The employee was being trained on how to climb trees. After a phone call, the employee grabbed the STIHL MS461 chainsaw that was sitting on the ground next to him and began walking around the small waist high brush that was in front of him. As Coworker #1 was walking and drop starting the chain saw, the employee kept walking around the brush directly towards the skid steer operator's direction. The employee was walking toward the skid steer operator and passed underneath the area where Coworker #2 was working inside the bucket at approximately 10 feet in the air. Coworker #2 had just finished trimming the branches connected to the hanging branch from most of 17 feet long branch. The branch swung towards the employee and broke off and came crashing to the ground. The branch bounced up and struck the employee with the bottom side of the branch directly in the face and chest. The branch crushed facial bones and the sternum of the employee. The employee suffered from blunt force trauma and later died at the hospital.

Keywords: Falling Object, Struck By, Tree, Tree Trimming