14.03.2015

Yet another tree fatality

A man died in Wednesday after he was catapulted out of the platform of truck mounted lift in Wellsville, Utah, USA

The man, Jeffery Glenn, 50, had tied a rope between the platform and a tree limb to pull it clear of some power lines while he trimmed it. However the rope broke, causing a catapult effect in the boom, which ejected him from the basket. He landed on a pile of wood after falling around 10 metres and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Vertikal Comment

Yet another tragic yet avoidable death, the second arborist to be catapulted to his death in a week - see: Another tree fatality. Hopefully, those working with trees, tree pruning companies and arborist associations will finally sit up and take note of the importance of wearing a harness and short lanyard when using boom type lifts and get the message across to their employees/members, that failure to do so can easily have a fatal ending, as the devastated families, colleagues and friends of these two men can sadly attest.