Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315072280 - Witten Logging Co.

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

On September 23, 2011, Employee #1 was working for a logging company at the Wyman Forest Mountain, private property located near Tehachapi, CA. Employee #1 was assigned to fell trees in a certain section of the tract. He felled the trees that were assigned to him. Most of the trees he felled were cut to fall downhill. The last tree that he felled was cut to fall uphill. When the tree fell, it got tangled in the branches of the trees above it on the hill and got hung up midway down. Employee #1 climbed up the mountain to see how he could dislodge this tree. Apparently he started to cut the second tree, which was helping to hold the lodged tree up, but the lodged tree fell down first, striking him in his head. He was wearing a hard hat when the tree struck him, and he was still coherent when he spoke to his coworkers. Before he died, he said that he thought he was out of the way of the lodged tree that fell on him. Employee #1 was taken by air ambulance to Tehachapi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The incident was reported to Cal/OSHA by the Kern County Fire Department on September 23, 2011.

Keywords: HEAD, HARD HAT, TREE FELLING, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, LODGED TREE, LOGGER, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, LOGGING, PUNCTURE