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Accident: 170389852 - Tree Cutter Killed When Struck By Flying Treetop

Accident: 170389852 -- Report ID: 0551800 -- Event Date: 07/20/1995
InspectionOpen DateSICEstablishment Name
12404725907/21/19952411Burton Lumber Co. Inc.
At approximately 3:05 p.m. on July 20, 1995, Employee #1, a timber cutter with 17 years of field experience, felled a 90 ft tree that fell northeast 45 degrees and lodged in other smaller trees and saplings nearby. The log skidder operator then hooked his choker cables around the lower base of the tree trunk and pulled the entire tree west until it dropped to the ground. A 5 in. diameter sapling that had been caught in the first fall of the tree snapped midway down its trunk, with the top half flying 70 ft southwest at high velocity, striking Employee #1 on the right side of his protective hard hat, fracturing his skull and causing a brain hemorrhage. He was killed. All proper protective equipment was being worn. Both Employee #1 and the log skidder had just completed the first of four field sessions on timber cutting training. Casual factors include poor judgment of surrounding hazards, lack of surveillance, and being too close to a falling tree.
Keywords: clearance, fracture, tree felling, hemorrhage, work rules, lodged tree, skull, tree section, struck by, brain
Employee # Inspection Age Sex Degree Nature Occupation
1 124047259 Fatality Fracture Timber cutting and logging occupations

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