OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #761387
N. C. DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION, DIV. OF HIGHWAYS
WALNUT COVE, NC·
Event description
EMPLOYEE WAS STRUCK BY FALLING TREE
Investigation abstract
Employee #1, regularly a motor vehicle operator, was supervising a crew of four prison inmates in clearing a right of way for a road-widening project. Two inmat es were piling brush on the east side of the road, one was operating a chain saw , and the other was using a bush ax. The inmate operating the chain saw was cutt ing a 6-inch diameter tree 30 to 35 feet tall. Employee #1 had finished setting out warning signs in the road and walked across the path of the falling tree whi le trying to position one of the men in a blind curve. The employee was struck o n the head and shoulder by the tree suffering a fractured skull and dying the ne xt day.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 36 Male
- Nature of injury
- Fracture (12)
- Part of body
- HEAD (13)
- Accident type
- STRUCK BY (1)
- Source of injury
- VEGETATION (39)
- Occupation
- Supervisors, motor vehicle operators (803)
- Human factor
- MISJUDGMENT, HAZ. SITUATION (1)
- Environmental factor
- OVERHEAD MOVING/FALLING OBJ AC (6)
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- Task assigned
- Task not regularly assigned (2)
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.