Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1769976.015 - Dream Tree Service Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

At 3:30 p.m. on August 20, 2024, an employee working as a laborer for a tree care service was cutting branches in a tree approximately 40 feet above the ground. A coworker (the owner) was on the ground, approximately 20 feet west of the employee, guiding the cut branches. The crew had been working in the area for approximately 5 minutes. The employee was standing on a branch while wearing his climbing saddle when he fell from the branch. The consensus among coworkers who witnessed the fall was that the employee cut a branch that was approximately 20-foot-long by 10-inch in diameter, and which was attached to a guide rope being controlled by the coworker on the ground. The branch being guided fell into the tree where the employee was working, causing the branch the employee was standing on to fall, along with multiple branches from nearby trees. The employee was still attached to his saddle when he fell approximately 30 feet and became lodged between multiple branches. Emergency services arrived, but the employee died from both being crushed between the branches and struck by falling branches.

Keywords: Back, Concussion, Contusion, Crushed, Cutting, Engineering Controls, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Falling Object, Fracture, Head, Inexperience, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lack of Work Procedures, Leg, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Neck, PPE, PPE Hazard Assessment, Pinned, Struck Against, Training, Tree, Tree Branch, Tree Care, Tree Worker's Saddle, Unsafe Position, Work Surface