Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1513707.015 - Jose Victor Pinto

Inspection Information - Office: Bridgeport Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:21 a.m. on January 30, 2021, an employee was working for a landscaping company. The employer was an individual who was a sole proprietor. He was not an arborist or professional tree cutter. He took on odd jobs and hired friends he knew and paid them in cash. The employer had been hired by a homeowner to remove multiple trees located at a private residence. The employer brought along his friend, the employee to help him remove approximately 36 trees. This was their second day on the worksite, as they worked there on the previous weekend as well. The Employer had paid the employee in cash the week prior for his work and planned to do the same for the work performed on the weekend of this incident. The employer was cutting down one of the trees from the bottom with a chainsaw. The employee and a coworker were holding a rope that was tied around the top of the tree. They were doing this to guide the tree was it fell. According to the employer and the police report, when the tree began to fall, the coworker ran out of the way of the tree. The employee, though, somehow did not move out of the way or actually ran into the tree. He received fatal head trauma injuries. He was was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to the employer, the employee had not been provided with and was not wearing any type of head protection, such as a hard hat.

Keywords: Blunt force trauma, Chain Saw, Falling Object, Hard Hat, Head, Landscaper, Landscaping, PPE, Rope, Struck By, Traumatic, Tree, Tree Felling