Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309365005 - Mountain Enterprises

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:08 a.m. on January 9, 2006, Employee #1 was working for Mountain Enterprises, a logging outfit. He and a coworker were felling and removing trees for an electric utility. They were removing a 65-foot white pine tree in sections. Employee #1 had gone to the top of the tree to remove two branches extending from the top of the tree. His coworker was on the ground. When Employee #1 came down from the top after removing the branches, his safety line must have become entangled in small branches of the 10-foot section of the tree he was about to cut. The area of the tree where the safety line was tangled was out of sight of both fallers. A tag line was tied to the section to be felled so that the other faller, standing at a safe distance from the base of the tree, could guide it to the ground. When Employee #1 made the back cut and the 10-foot section was felled, he was yanked from his position by his safety line, which was entangled in the section falling to the ground. He was pulled violently from the tree to the ground 30 to 35 feet below. The other tree faller went to Employee #1 and could tell he was in bad condition and needed help as soon as possible. A passing motorist, who was a paramedic from a branch of the military, stopped and rendered first aid. The coworker took Employee #1's vehicle, which was equipped with OnStar, to the roadway, where he could get radio reception, and called for help. Employee #1 was transported by a helicopter to a hospital at 11:20 a.m. He was pronounced dead by the attending doctor at 12:50 p.m.

Keywords: TREE FELLING, TREE LIMB, LOGGER, ELEC UTILITY WORK, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, ENTANGLED, FALLING OBJECT, LOGGING