Accident: 665612 - Killed When Head Is Cut By Chain Saw

Employee #1 was struck on the head by a chain saw when the aerial lift he was in suddenly dropped. He sustained a severe laceration on his head and was killed.

agriculture, laceration, head, chain saw, aerial lift, work rules

Accident: 200540219 - Killed In Fall From Tree

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on October 23, 1997, Employee #1 was using a chain saw to trim a tree limb when he accidentally cut his safety line. He fell 30 ft from the tree to the ground, and was killed.

tree trimming, tree, lifeline, severed, inattention, fall, chain saw

Accident: 170701056 - Forearm Injured When Struck By Chain Saw

Employee #1, an inmate worker, had been assigned to a work detail trimming tree branches at a fire station. He was using a chain saw to cut a 3 in. diameter branch. After he made the final cut, the branch fell and then rebounded back up after hitting a concrete walk and wall. It struck Employee #1 in the face, and the chain saw struck his right forearm. He suffered a deep laceration, including nerve and tendon damage.

tree trimming, chain saw, portable power tool, struck by, forearm, laceration, tendon, saw, flying object

Accident: 200630085 - Killed When Struck By Limb Of Falling Tree

Employee #1 was using an Stihl chain saw, #046, to fell a 58 ft 8 in. tall red oak tree that was 38 in. in diameter at the stump and 9 in. in diameter at the top. A 9 in. common notch at a 45 degree angle was made on the southeast side of the tree. He was making the backcut when his chain saw became lodged in the tree. Employee #1 asked the skidder operator to hold the tree in place with the skidder while he retrieved another chain saw to extract his from the tree. As he was walking away, the skidder operator saw that the tree was starting to fall and shouted to Employee #1 that it was coming down. Employee #1 ran to the southwest, in the same path as the falling tree. He was knocked down by an 8 in. diameter limb and was found laying face down, with the limb across his lower legs and his head next to a 34 in. long by 18 in. wide rock. Employee #1 was killed. There was 18 in. of rotten wood in the center of the oak tree.

logging, chain saw, struck by, tree limb, tree felling, stuck, work rules

Accident: 170361836 - Foot Injured When Chain Saw Kicks Back

Employee #1, a timber faller, was working in a clump of 2 ft diameter trees. He did not check for suckers on the tree he was starting to take down. While making the face cut, Employee #1 put his left foot under the chain saw. The saw struck an unseen sucker, kicked out of the cut, and fell on his foot. Employee #1 suffered two cut tendons, the loss of bone, and subsequently underwent skin graft surgery.

logger, tree felling, chain saw, laceration, foot, tendon, logging, kick back, inattention

Accident: 951137 - Killed When Chain Saw Severs Artery

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on April 3, 1997, Employee #1 was limbing a large oak tree that he had just felled. He cut an approximately 30 ft long by 8 in. diameter limb approximately 7 ft from the tree. He then moved up the limb to saw off a 2 ft long section that had a 5 ft long by 2 in. diameter limb protruding from it at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. The employee positioned his chain saw beneath the protruding 8 in. diameter limb; after the cut was made, the weight of the chain saw dropped it downward toward Employee #1. As he stumbled backward, the saw cut into the inside of his left thigh, severing the artery, and causing him to bleed to death.

logging, artery, laceration, thigh, chain saw, severed, portable power tool, loss of blood, limbing

Accident: 201140233 - Hand Lacerated By Chain Saw

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on March 10, 1997, Employee #1 and five coworkers, of Cal Trans, were trimming bushes on the side of a freeway near an exit ramp. Their assigned tasks included shredding of cut branches in a chipper. One branch was too big to fit in the chipper and had to be cut into smaller pieces first. To accomplish this, Employee #1 held the branch while a coworker tried to cut it with a chain saw. The chain saw kicked back and jumped, striking Employee #1's right hand. She sustained a laceration across the palm of her right hand and was treated at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, CA.

tree trimming, chain saw, kick back, hand, laceration, portable power tool, work rules

Accident: 170234116 - Killed When Crushed By Boom Of Delimber

Employee #1 was operating a 1991 Denis log delimber, model D3300TNS. He was using the head of the delimber to file the chain on the cut-off saw when the boom telescoped out and crushed his chest against the ground. He was killed.

logging, limbing, crushed, chain saw, struck by, lockout, aerial lift, work rules, boom

Accident: 170167050 - Injured When Brake Jarred Off Chain Saw

Employee #1, a gardener, was on a ladder cutting a tree limb with a hand-held chain saw. He was 3 ft above the ground when the tree limb, which had already been cut through, gently bumped him. Employee #1 lost his balance and slipped down the ladder to the ground. The brake on the chain saw, which had been set, was jarred off, and he sustained cuts on his shoulder and upper arm.

tree limb, tree trimming, chain saw, fall, lost balance, arm, laceration, struck by, portable power tool

Accident: 200520146 - Arm Lacerated By Chain Saw

Employee #1 and a coworker, both groundskeepers at a private golf course, were using an 18 in. Echo chain saw, model 440EVL, to fell a dead tree from the edge of the course. Employee #2 was operating the saw. Employee #1 was reaching over him to push the tree away when it began to fall toward them. While they were attempting to escape, Employee #1's left arm struck against the moving blade of the chain saw. He lacerated the underside of his left forearm, severing two tendons and damaging nerves to his fingers. Employee #1 was transported to the hospital, where he underwent surgery. His coworker was not injured.

portable power tool, chain saw, blade, tree felling, struck against, laceration, arm, severed, tendon

Accident: 170362057 - Leg Lacerated When Chain Saw Kicks Back

Employee #1 was using a Husqvarna chain saw, model 394, to fell trees near the landing site of a logging operation. He had felled a redwood tree and then made the horizontal part of the face cut in a tree that was joined at the stump to the fallen one. Because the other stump was so close, Employee #1 intended to use a standard cut for the face cut. However, he was so accustomed to using the Humboldt cut that he swung his saw down to make that cut instead. The tip of the saw struck the other stump and kicked back, off to the side, and then down. Employee #1 suffered a severe laceration to his left lower leg that required multiple stitches to close. He said that the chain saw had a working chain brake and that he was wearing leg chaps. Employee #1 stated, however, that the brake did not actuate when the saw kicked to the side and down, and that the saw hit his leg to the side of the chaps.

logging, logger, tree felling, chain saw, kick back, leg, laceration, work rules, mech malfunction, protective clothing