Fairfield, CT — A man was hospitalized after falling 40 feet while trimming a tree in Fairfield, Connecticut, on Monday, March 30, 2015. The accident took place on Rock Major Road.
The man involved in the accident was an employee of Bert’s Tree Service. Emergency workers arrived on the scene to find the man conscious. Beofre being taken to a local hospital, he would say that he fell when his climbing spikes became undone.
It’s not clear how his gear came loose.
Sources have no information about the man’s current condition.
The accident is currently being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
Reports say that the worker involved in this accident fell after his tree-climbing spikes came undone. Now, tree-trimming spikes are a lot like shoes. They can be attached with laces or belt straps, so that means there are a couple of different ways they could have come loose. It’s always possible that the worker injured in this accident didn’t tighten them properly. However, it’s also possible that the spikes were defective, and came loose because there was something wrong with them. If that turned out to be the case, then liability for the accident could come down on the manufacturer, which where workers’ comp is concerned, would be considered a third party.
Now, the worker here was injured on the job, so he’s going to be eligible for workers’ comp benefits. Workers’ comp would prevent him from filing a claim against his employer (which is really the point of that whole system). However, if the fault here lied with his equipment, he would have a claim against the manufacturer. Obviously, more investigation is needed. It’ll be interesting to see what the OSHA investigation uncovers. Unfortunately, OSHA investigations can take months to complete. Often, those months of waiting end up looking like a lot of wasted time when you take into account the fact that victims only have a certain amount of time following a work accident to actually do anything about it. In my experience, and judging from similar cases I’ve helped with in the past, an independently-run investigation is going to be much better suited to this sort of thing. These investigations work for the victims, so that they don’t have to rely on OSHA — whose prerogative isn’t to help victims — or the manufacturers — who can’t exactly be trust to come up with an explanation for the accident that dumps the blame at their own feet.
— Grossman Law Offices
