Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1474321.015 - California Trees, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Modesto District Office

Investigation Summary

At 5:15 p.m. on April 20, 2020, a Ponderosa pine tree, approximately 120 feet, was leaning toward the power line that runs through the field and was taken down as a precaution to prevent it from hitting the power line. This site is a private home with an adjacent field. California Trees Incorporated was the contractor who took the tree down. A bucket truck was used to trim branches up to 65 feet. A climber then climbed the tree, limbed it, and then cut it down in sections. All that was left of the tree was the main trunk to a height of 50 feet. It was getting late, so the foreman told the employees that they would finish the tree the following day by felling it at ground level now that it was shortened enough. The climber was attached to the tree by a climbing line wrapped around the tree over a stub branch near to the point where he had made the last section cut. The employee removed the climbing lanyard and repelled toward the ground. As he descended the tree, after about 20 feet, his Prusik knot bound up. He tried to free it by bouncing on the line, and as he did so, the line slipped off the stub nut and slipped down the trunk to the ground. The employee fell 30 feet to the grass. The employee fractured his right fibula and dislocated his elbow. He was treated in a local hospital for seven days following the fall. The employer has since required that no rappelling is allowed, and climbers must be secured to both the climbing line and their lanyard until they are back on the ground.

Keywords: Bucket Truck, Dislocated, Elbow, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Leg, Overhead Power Line, Rappelling, Tree, Tree Care, Tree Climber, Tree Climbing System, Tree Felling, Tree Trimming