Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1691743.015 - Fcx2023xjw184x0018 - Enrique Quezada, A Single Man

Inspection Information - Office: Arizona Division Of Occupational Safety And Health (Adosh)

Investigation Summary

At 7:00 p.m. on May 12, 2023, an employee working as a day laborer was descending a palm tree. A coworker (the employer) had picked up the employee from a hardware store and the two proceeded to go door-to-door asking people if they needed their trees trimmed. The employee and coworker arrived at a house and was told to trim three trees, including a palm tree. The employee climbed the approximately 40-foot tall tree using a ladder and a climbing spikes and began trimming the tree. At approximately 10:20 a.m. the employee finished trimming the tree and started coming down using a lifeline rope system, while the employer was picking up palm fronds off the ground. It is unknown exactly what happened, but the employee fell and landed face first onto the ground while the ladder fell and hit the coworker on the back. The coworker called for help and the employee was taken to a hospital, where he later died from multiple blunt force injuries to the head and face.

Keywords: Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Cutting, Face, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Head, Ladder, Palm Tree, Tree, Tree Care, Tree Climber, Tree Climbing System, Tree Trimming, Work Surface