OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221365521
RKG TREE SERVICES, LLC
WEST SIMSBURY, CT·
Event description
Tree care employee is struck and killed by falling tree
Investigation abstract
At 4:30 p.m. on June 24, 2021, an employee was working for a tree care service. arrived, the employee was trapped beneath the fallen tree and not breathing. The local police and fire departments responded. Fire department personnel used an automatic external defibrillator (AED) provided by the police and performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). At this time, the employee had a faint pulse. Police personnel determined that immediate transport was required. An ambulance arrived, and ambulance company personnel took over primary care. Fire department personnel loaded the employee into the ambulance with a Stokes basket. Medical personnel decided that helicopter transport was not needed. The employee was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He and some coworkers, including the company owner, were in the backyard of a single family residence. They were taking down an 80-foot tall (24-meter tall) pine tree. They were cutting the tree near the base so that the entire tree would come down in one motion. The employee was applying pulling force by means of a come-along, while the company owner was doing the actual cutting. The employee's position put him in line with the falling tree. As the tree fell, it changed direction, and the employee tried to flee. The falling tree struck him in his head, neck, and torso. He suffered massive head trauma. When rescuers
Victim
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#1 Fatality Age 42 M
- Event type
- 1
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