Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Asplundh Tree Expert Co., 4040 Rocky Springs Rd, ROBELINE, LOUISIANA 71469
on — Fractures, affecting the hip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was walking around his work truck on muddy terrain when he slipped and fell in the mud. His left hip struck a 6-inch tree stump and was broken.
At 9:30 a.m. on August 4, 2021, a two-person crew was trimming branches on a 36-foot locust tree using an elevator lift truck. An employee was in the elevated bucket of the boom truck using a stick saw. While he was lowering the boom to clear some hangers, the walking pin to the hydraulic cylinder failed. The upper boom and bucket fell about 7.9 feet, coming to rest on the top of the cab protection rack. The employee suffered a head laceration and was hospitalized.
An employee was trimming a pecan tree with a hand saw. He had climbed the tree and was pulling a limb back to cut it when the limb contacted power lines. The employee was shocked and suffered burns to both hands and both knees.
An employee was working in the forest flagging an area to be harvested. He took a step and his foot slipped on a stick hidden under the leaves, causing him to fall to the ground. He landed on his right foot/lower leg resulting in a fractured tibia.
An employee was inspecting an apartment to ensure it was ready for a new resident to move in. The carpet in the apartment had been recently cleaned and was still wet. As the employee went from the carpet to the tiled floor of the bathroom, they slipped and fell, resulting in a torn left hamstring.
An employee was delivering a letter along a rural carrier route when she stepped on an ice-covered snow drift, slipped, and fell to the ground. The employee sustained a right hip fracture that required surgery.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 561730)
An employee was helping to set up a mulch blowing truck when they were struck by an oncoming vehicle. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured knee, a concussion, and a head laceration; they also received stitches on their arm.
An employee was using a table saw to cut a piece of wood when the saw cut his thumb, index, and middle fingers. His index finger was amputated and he was hospitalized.
An employee was mowing a residential lawn at a client's house. The mower slid on the land and tipped over onto him. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured vertebra in the neck and partial paralysis.
A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.
A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.