Tree workers do the hard, dangerous work of tree care and maintenance that protects homes, neighborhoods, roads, power lines and plant life from costly damage. The hazardous nature of the work involves facing risks every time tree workers set up a roadway work zone, use a bucket truck, climb a tree, walk on a roof, operate a chain saw or wood chipper, work near power lines or clear debris in a drop zone.

A 51-year-old climber was killed after being struck by this fallen maple limb. Photos courtesy of the Washington FACE program.

Indeed, such dangers have resulted in alarming numbers of “tree trimmers” dying on the job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between 2012 and 2022, 846 trimmers died at work. In 2020, the fatal injury rate within the landscaping-services industry, which includes trimmers, was more than five times the national rate of total worker fatalities. Most of these trimmer deaths resulted from falls at elevation, being struck by falling trees or branches, electrocutions or being caught in or pulled into equipment.

In Washington state alone, 16 tree workers died during the same period, according to the Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (WA FACE) program at the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. These deaths included 10 falls, three struck-bys, two crushed by tree sections and one electrocution.

The tragic loss of a worker’s life always brings pain and sorrow to their families, friends and co-workers. Impacts on businesses include lost productivity, low morale and retention, legal expenses and fewer customers. For all these reasons, it is extremely urgent for tree care employers to do everything possible to improve workplace safety for trimmers.

Three preventable tragedies
WA FACE investigated three recent tree-worker deaths, all of which were preventable.

Struck by a falling limb
A 51-year-old climber was falling a storm-damaged maple tree with a small crew in the backyard of a private home. He was a Certified Arborist and in charge of the crew and job site. The maple was supporting two uprooted Douglas firs and a mass of broken branches that were to fall when the maple was cut down.

The climber ascended to the top of the maple, cut a few branches with a chain saw and climbed back down to cut the remaining 38-foot section of the tree to a low stump. When he began cutting at the base of the tree, a long, heavy fir limb broke off and got hung up in the canopy without anyone seeing it. As he made another cut, the maple cracked and dislodged the hanging limb. When the trimmer looked up toward the sound of the crack, the falling limb struck him in the forehead, killing him.

Fall from a bucket truck
A 59-year-old, experienced lift operator was working with a small crew using a bucket truck to remove damaged branches at a private home. He went up in the bucket wearing a fall-arrest harness. After cutting some branches, he lowered the bucket to move the truck in order to change the bucket angle near the tree. A co-worker helped him move the truck and set the outriggers. No one saw him re-enter the bucket, but this time he went up without his harness clipped in.

The ground crew then saw the truck tilting, with its wheels off the ground. The bucket appeared to be caught and pressing on a branch with enough force to tilt the truck. When the bucket broke free of the branch, the truck’s wheels slammed down, shaking the bucket so violently that it ejected the trimmer, who fell 25 feet to the ground and was killed.

Fall down an embankment
A 28-year-old worker was assisting with removing a Douglas fir with an unsupervised, small crew at a private residence. The crew had a device (port-a-wrap) to lower tree sections and limbs. But they did not have a rope long enough, so they tied two ropes together. The knot would not fit in the port-a-wrap, so they decided not to use it. Instead, they wrapped the rope twice around the tree for friction.

A climber in the tree rigged and cut sections while the two co-workers held the rope for lowering the sections to the ground. The climber cut off a 330-pound section that fell and shock-loaded the rope, which lifted the two co-workers off the ground. As they struggled to control the section, the victim lost his grip on the rope, stumbled and fell down an embankment, where he hit his head on a rock, fatally injuring him.

What did these incidents have in common?
In all three incidents, the trimmers’ employers either lacked or did not enforce accident prevention programs (APP) or specific policies, such as requiring job-hazard analyses, work-site assessments, fall-protection work plans, personal fall-arrest systems and safety training. Safety programs, policies and training that are properly developed, managed and enforced greatly reduce the risk of death or severe injuries by helping workers proactively identify and control hazards.

A 59-year-old, experienced lift operator was killed after being ejected from this lift bucket.

Ways to prevent similar incidents
Taking steps to prevent a workplace death is much better than grappling with the emotional, social and financial suffering that occurs in the aftermath of one. The following recommendations can help tree care employers get on track toward keeping workers safe.

As tree care operations vary among different businesses, employers should tailor these recommendations to the specific types of environments, tools and equipment found in their own operations. If they need help, employers can book a no-cost, on-site safety consultation from OSHA or their State Plan program. Hiring a local safety consultant also can be helpful, especially if the consultant has professional tree care safety credentials.

Follow the standards
Following safety standards is the basic responsibility of all employers. It reduces hazards and shows workers that their employer cares about their well-being. While there currently are no nationwide, uniform, mandatory standards for the tree care industry, employers still must follow federal OSHA standards for general industry and recordkeeping. They also must follow state-level standards if they are in a state with an OSHA-approved State Plan, which is required to be at least as effective or more stringent than OSHA.

Standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) also apply to arboricultural operations. Compliance with ANSI standards is voluntary, but they have often been used to inform federal, state and municipal standards. Employers who need help with standards can contact a compliance-
assistance specialist at their regional or local OSHA or State Plan office.

Develop an accident-prevention program
Developing an accident-prevention program (APP) is central to preventing hazards in tree care operations. An effective APP should contain clearly written safety policies and requirements. It also should be readily available for all workers to review at any time.

At a minimum, an APP should have:

• A safety orientation that provides a program description.
• On-the-job demonstrations of how to work safely.
• Reporting systems for injuries and unsafe conditions and practices.
• Instructions for the use and care of personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Emergency response plans.
• Instructions on how to form and conduct safety committees and meetings.
• An APP also should have a job hazard analysis (JHA)-requirement policy to have a qualified person identify hazards and their severity before a job begins. Once hazards are identified using a JHA, solutions, such as requiring PPE, can be developed to control hazards and achieve a lower level of risk. Policies also should require frequent job-site
  safety assessments and use of fall-protection work plans and personal fall-arrest systems.

Have designated safety managers and crew supervisors ensure workers are following APP policies at job sites. Update policies when new hazards emerge or existing ones change. Encourage workers to offer input and solutions.

A 28-year-old worker was assisting with removing a Douglas fir when he fell down this embankment, struck his head on a rock and died.

Provide safety training
Never assume tree workers can recognize and avoid hazards without having proper safety training. Safety training should begin with a review of APP policies during new-hire orientations. Follow this up with training for specific work environments, tasks, tools and equipment.

Trainers should especially focus on how to identify and prevent fall, struck-by, electrocution and caught-in hazards. This requires knowing how to maintain situational awareness, actively monitor the work site, select and use PPE, stop unsafe operations and report unresolved hazards to supervisors and management.

As workers have different learning styles, use an engaging mixture of training methods, such as storytelling, reading incident narratives, watching videos and attending webinars. Hands-on demonstrations and role-playing scenarios also can help workers apply and practice new knowledge and skills. Assessments should be done before and after each training to ensure workers have gained proficiency and that training was effective.

Make sure every worker has an up-to-date training file. Evaluate and enhance the training program regularly, and update it when changes occur in job tasks, tools, equipment and environments. Translate APP policies, JHAs and training materials to workers’ preferred languages.

And, last but not least, take training a step further by encouraging tree workers to pursue credentials for tree care professionals, such as becoming a Certified Arborist or safety specialist, such as a Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP).

Paul Karolczyk is a fatality investigator with the WA FACE program. Since 2015, he has been a safety and health expert for NIOSH-funded research programs at the Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) program within Washington state’s Department of Labor & Industries. He contributes investigation-based articles to trade journals in tree care, retail, transportation and agriculture industries. His reports are profiled in professional safety publications, including the National Safety Council’s Safety + Health Magazine. He has a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.

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