Accident: 14291942 - Killed When Tree Limb Bounces Up

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on November 11, 2000, Employee #1 was working alone, felling trees along a steep hillside. He cut a large white oak tree and, as it fell, a limb became lodged in the top of a hickory tree. The skidder operator took the white oak to the landing while Employee #1 cut down he hickory tree. As it fell, the 42 ft white oak limb was freed. It hit the ground and sprang backward, striking Employee #1 on the head. He was killed instantly.

logging, tree, struck by, head, tree limb, slope, kick back, lodged tree, falling object

Accident: 126081330 - Injured While Fighting Fire

At approximately 2:15 a.m. on October 29, 2000, Employee #1, a Los Angeles County fire captain with 23 years of experience, and three coworkers were fighting a fire that had started at approximately 1:30 a.m. at a glass retailer in Whittier, CA. The crew entered the building from the front, which had not yet burned, and were wetting the areas before them as they advanced into the burning building. A coworker was between 2 and 3 ft away from Employee #1, helping him hose down small fires. The coworker glanced at Employee #1 every 20 to 30 seconds to maintain eye contact, and then saw that he had fallen through the floor and into the basement. Employee #1 sustained second- and third-degree burns on his chest, back, and legs, and soft tissue injuries to his back; he also suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning and lactic acidosis. These injuries resulted from exposure to the fire, smoke inhalation, and the fall through the floor into the basement. Apparently, the men had advanced along a walkway to an attached house. Employee #1 later stated that he thought he was standing on ground level and did not realize there was a basement. Normal procedures call for sounding roofs only. Employee #1 did not sound the floor and thought he was on solid ground. Apparently the floor was suffering from dry rot. The fire department's investigation indicated that the floor had collapsed from beneath Employee #1. Further investigation revealed that the ground sloped down from the front of the building, a fact that was not readily apparent from the street or from the front of the building.

fire, fire fighter, burn, smoke inhalation, work surface, collapse, carbon monoxide, back, fall

Accident: 119947943 - Injured In Fall From Ladder

At approximately 10:54 a.m. on October 17, 2000, Employee #1, an electrician employed by Thomas J. Buse Electrical Contractor, Riverside, was repairing a parking lot light stanchion in Redlands. After changing the light fixture ballast, he was climbing down the ladder when he fell approximately 8 to 10 ft. He sustained a fractured pelvis. Employee #1 was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for seven days.

electrician, back, fracture, pelvis, fall, ladder, descending, repair

Accident: 170009351 - Injured In Fall From Roof

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on September 9, 2002, Employee #1 climbed to the roof of a building, walked west across installed decking, donned his fall protection harness, hooked up his Guardian Fall Protection Beamer 2000, and walked the joist out to his work area where he was stick-welding bridging on the roof. At about 10:00 a.m., when he was about one-third finished, he hooked up his Beamer at the center seat. He walked east along the joist to the water cooler for a break. His Beamer became caught on something, pulling him backward and off his feet. Employee #1 fell sideways and his lanyard stopped his fall, partially activating the lanyard deceleration device. He bounced back up and when he descended, the Beamer came free from the beam. Employee #1 fell between 20 and 22 ft onto dirt, fracturing his back and ankle.

back, work rules, fracture, fall protection, lanyard, fracture, construction, caught by, roof, unsecured

Accident: 14509202 - Killed When Struck By Backing Trailer

Employee #1 was at a job site where a tractor trailer had just dropped off a connection box. The driver was backing up in preparation for pulling onto the roadway when Employee #1 was struck by the trailer. He was killed.

construction, trailer truck, truck, backing up, motor vehicle, communication, tractor trailer, signalman, back-up alarm, work rules

Accident: 170249932 - Back Fractured When Struck By Falling Boom

Employee #1, of Palmer Construction, was using an overhead pumping apparatus owned by Crumpacker Construction to pour concrete into a vertical form. The apparatus came apart and part of the falling boom struck Employee #1's lower back. He suffered fractured vertebrae.

concrete form work, equipment failure, pump, construction, concrete pump, back, fracture, vertebra, falling object, boom