Abbts, LLC: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jul 29, 2010 (fatal): Tree service worker is killed by falling tree

On Thursday, July 29, 2010, Employee #1 was working for ABBTS, LLC (A Busy Beave r Tree Service), in Lutherville, MD. A homeowner had hired the firm to remove tw o large trees from the backyard and to trim other trees. The two trees were cut down on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, and the job on Thursday, July 29, was to retur n to the address, clean up the debris, and do the trimming. When the company for eman arrived at the shop that day, he called the company's owner to discuss the work to be done that day. The foreman informed the owner that the customer had a sked about taking down an additional tree that was dead; this service was not pa rt of the original contract. The dead tree was located in a large, heavily woode d lot owned by a neighbor to the homeowner who had contracted the work. The job was to fell the dead tree whole and then leave it on the ground in the wooded lo t. Both homeowners were in agreement with this additional work. The firm's owner instructed the foreman to proceed with taking down the dead tree and to take hi s time and do the job safely. The work crew of five employees arrived at the wor k site at 7:30 a.m. They started cleaning up the debris from the two trees cut d own the day before. The foreman and two employees went over to inspect the dead oak tree. One of the employees checked the tree and, determining that it was saf e to climb, went up the tree and cut off six branches. There were two branches t hat he could not cut, because they could have landed on the property owner's fen ce, damaging it. After cutting the branches he could, he attached one end of a g uide rope to the tree. The foreman and the three other employees walked down to another tree, where the other end of the guide rope was attached. The rope was 0 .75 inches in diameter and approximately 200 feet long. As an employee started c utting the dead tree, the four other employees were pulling on the guide rope to direct the fall of the dead tree. The employee notched the front of the dead tr ee (facing the other employees) and then cut the back side. The four employees w ere standing approximately 10 feet in front of the lower tree where the rope was secured. The employees were approximately 90 to 100 feet away from the dead oak tree, which was approximately 100 to 110 feet tall. After the back cut was comp leted, the dead oak tree started to fall. At that point, the four employees hold ing the guide rope realized the tree was not falling in the direction they expec ted and would strike another tree. The dead oak tree struck a live tree approxim ately 19 feet, 6 inches up on the live tree, causing the live tree to snap off a t ground level and fall. Apparently the base of the second tree was starting to die, though the rest of the tree looked alive. It is thought that one of the lim bs that could not be cut off of the dead tree struck the live tree. The second t ree was approximately 110 to 120 feet tall. The four employees who had been hold ing the rope all started running away from the two trees that were falling towar ds them, through the wooded lot toward the path that led to the roadway. No one actually saw the first tree hit the second tree or the two trees fall to the gro und. As the second tree fell and hit the ground, it broke apart in two places. A section of the second tree struck the foreman on his left ankle, and the force knocked him to the ground. As another employee was running, a small branch struc k him on a finger of his left hand and nicked his left ear. A third employee sta ted that a branch had passed in front of him without hitting him as he was runni ng. The fourth employee was struck in the head by the top of the falling second tree. The section of the tree that hit him was one foot in diameter; the force o f the blow drove him into the ground, breaking his right leg and creating a hole in his head. He probably died instantly from the force of the tree hitting his head. None of the employees were wearing hard hats. After the trees were on the ground, the employees saw the stricken employee lying on the ground. Everyone we nt to him and saw that he had serious injuries and was most likely dead. The for eman called emergency medical services, and multiple Baltimore County police and rescue personnel responded. The employee was pronounced dead at the scene. The approximate distance from where the four employees had been holding the rope to where the Employee #1 was struck was 37 feet. The distance from where he was str uck to the road was approximately 130 feet. The employees could have run to thei r right to a mostly clear area that was only 20 to 25 feet away. The employees s tated that they hardly ever wore hard hats, though they were available for use. The owner stated that they seldom drop trees in this manner. He also stated that the four employees should have been farther away from the drop zone. They used the guide rope to help direct the tree when it started to fall. The rope was kep t taught in case the center of the tree being felled was bad and something happe ned during the cut. Considering the size of the wooded lot and the location of t he dead oak tree, there really was no reason for the four employees to be in the area they were in. This summary is a duplicate of summary number 202626990.

Incident on Jul 29, 2010 (fatal): Tree service worker is killed by falling tree

Employee #1 was working for an ornamental tree and shrub service. Two trees fell down, and Employee #1 was struck in the head by the top of the second tree to f all. The section of the tree that hit him was one foot in diameter, and the forc e of the blow drove him into the ground, breaking his right leg. Employee #1's s on saw Employee #1 lying on the ground, and he and other workers there went to h elp him. Emergency medical services were called, but Employee #1 probably died i nstantly from the force of the tree hitting his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither he nor any of the other workers at the site were wearing hard hats. This summary is a duplicate of summary number 202501631.