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Accident: 170071328 - Employee Killed After Arm Is Shredded In Chipper

Accident: 170071328 -- Report ID: 0352420 -- Event Date: 10/06/1994
InspectionOpen DateSICEstablishment Name
11951184811/06/19940783Atlantic Tree Service Incorporated
At approximately 4:00 p.m. on October 6, 1994, Employee #1 and a coworker, of Atlantic Tree Service, Inc., were topping trees and trimming the lower branches on an evergreen tree. The foreman was cutting the trees with a chain saw and Employee #1 was the ground person. Around 5:30 p.m., Employee #1, who was hand feeding the evergreen branches into the shredder/chipper machine, got his left arm caught in the chipper. His arm was pulled into the blades and shredded; only partial bone below the shoulder socket remained. The foreman, hearing Employee #1 yell, pushed the emergency stop bar and reversed the in-going rotor. Employee #1 fell backward to the ground. He was unconscious. Someone called 911. Employee #1 was pronounced dead at the job site. His left arm was shredded past the elbow and there appeared to be a puncture wound on the right temple. Employee #1 was wearing gloves that the company had issued. It did not appear, though, that he was wearing eye and face protection equipment; none were visible in the immediate area. Employee #1 had previous experience with another tree cutting company and had been given hands-on training on how to operate the chipper machine by the company president and foreman. Safety instructions and danger signs are posted on the machine. The emergency stop bar was tested and was working properly.
Keywords: unconsciousness, rotor, ppe, work rules, caught by, chipper, arm, blade, tree trimming, puncture
Employee # Inspection Age Sex Degree Nature Occupation
1 119511848 Fatality Other Machine operators, not specified

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