“The boom for the bucket truck failed causing the bucket and worker to fall to the ground,” Plainville Police Chief Christopher Vanghele said.
The worker, an employee of Plainville-based Holcomb Tree Inc., suffered severe head injuries and was in critical but stable condition in Hartford Hospital as of Thursday afternoon, according to a police spokesman.
The Plainville accident was just the latest grisly mishap involving tree work — one of the nation’s most dangerous occupations and one that is seeing an uptick in deaths this year across New England.
As of mid-July, the number of deaths in the region’s tree industry this year had far exceeded the total for all of 2022, according to data from OSHA. And this year’s six deaths were recorded before the start of fall storms and the nor’easter season, a busy time for tree workers.
Tree worker dies in Sharon
This year’s deaths include the loss of Joseph L. Mandeville, 37, of Seymour, who died on July 6 while working on a property in Sharon.
An experienced tree worker with safety certifications, Mandeville was working for Kent’s Sawing High Climbers when he fell to his death after a safety rope was cut. He died at the scene of the accident, a 10-acre property owned by Jessi and John Betar at 10 Downey Road in Sharon, according to town records.
“I chose to travel and sample many occupations for peace of mind only to return to tree work because I truly enjoy it,” Mandeville was quoted as saying in a profile on the Sawing High Climbers website.
“All of us at Sawing High Climbers are grieving the devastating accidental death of our colleague and friend Joe Mandeville,” the company said in a statement. “He was an experienced climber who had been a core part of our team, and part of our tree family, for many years.”
Mandeville’s death was the third on-the-job fatality of any kind for the year in the state as of mid-July, according to the state Department of Labor. (A worker was killed in New Milford in April in a dump-truck accident and another man died in May after being run over while working as a surveyor in Fairfield.)
Deaths from tree work in New England vary widely from year to year, with the most recent peak of eight across the region in 2018. Only one worker died in New England in 2022, but six died in 2021. (Vermont’s numbers are excluded from the totals due to its separate administration of OSHA.)
Although Massachusetts has nearly twice the population of Connecticut, the two states have recorded a similar number of tree-worker deaths over the last five years: 10 deaths in the Bay State and 9 deaths here from 2018 to mid-2023.
Tree industry advocates for safety
With its extensive tree canopy and dense population, southern New England is a center of the national tree industry, said Peter Gerstenberger, a senior advisor at the New Hampshire-based Tree Care Industry Association.
A national group with nearly 2,000 member businesses, the association also posts a running tally of tree-related accidents nationwide — a steady stream of falls, electrocutions and “struck-bys,” when someone is hit by a falling tree or branch.
“The tree care industry, in our estimation, is one of the most dangerous occupations that are in the United States,” Gerstenberger said. “I’d like to characterize our member companies as some of the most safety-conscious individuals just doing some of the most hazardous work there is. But companies, attitudes and approaches to safety run the gamut.”
Adding to the inherent danger of tree work is the lack of a national safety standard, Gerstenberger said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been working on a federal standard for tree work since 2006 but action keeps being delayed as other issues — like preventing on-the-job heat illness — get prioritized.
“The safe workplace rules that OSHA has are very generic and not specific enough to our industry to really be of great value,” Gerstenberger said. “We want more regulation basically, because it would serve as some guidance, especially for the companies who are kind of on the fringes of the industry.”
Connecticut is rare among states in that it does require a licensed arborist to lead tree work, but others at a site may have a wide range of safety training and experience.
As it waits for national standards, OSHA’s New England regional office launched a program to reduce workplace fatalities and injuries in the tree industry in August 2021. Stepped-up inspections of tree and landscaping companies are key to the effort, along with outreach to workers and employers, according to U.S. Department of Labor spokesman Ted Fitzgerald.
Low bar to entry draws inexperienced
Although work that happens up-high, outdoors and deals with unpredictable materials like trees will never be completely risk-free, the tree industry has actually gotten a lot safer over time, Gerstenberger said.
His organization, among others, offers extensive safety training at all levels, in-person and online and in Spanish and English. National conventions bring together best practices across the industry to protect workers and property. A focus on electrocutions has save many lives, although workers still die from coming in contact with high-voltage wires.
Technology has also advanced: Newer equipment like “knuckle-boom” lifts and grapplesaw cranes allows arborists to operate saws remotely at a distance and from the ground. But those grapplesaw cranes start well into six figures and range up to $750,000 for a rig mounted to a truck — even when used, according to online broker Knuckleboom Trader.
Many of the deaths and injuries in the tree industry today come from smaller companies that are making do with outdated or inadequate equipment and minimal training. Basic bucket-and-boom rigs can be rented from equipment rental companies without any need for a tree-work license or qualifications.
A basic “manlift” can be rented from Sunbelt Rentals in North Haven for as little as $665 a day, according to the company’s website.
Rental equipment may be of uncertain age and condition and stakes are high: Wednesday’s accident in Plainville happened when a metal boom holding the worker and bucket gave way without warning, workers told first responders.
“The barriers to entry are basically non-existent,” Gerstenberg said of tree work. “Sometimes, in the aftermath of a storm, everybody suddenly becomes a tree worker… With no knowledge whatsoever you can get yourself 50-60 feet in the air and a variety of things could happen.”
Protecting tree workers — and yourself
If you’ve been eyeing a dead or diseased tree on your property, think of both worker safety and your own protection when hiring a company to remove it, Gerstenberger said.
“If it were me, I would want to get local referrals, I would want to see that business’s credentials and also their longevity in the industry,” he said. Online resources like the Tree Care Industry Association’s “Tree Care Tips” site can also help homeowners educate themselves and choose the right service.
One tip specific to Connecticut: Make sure the company you choose has an arborist license through the state’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection program, which includes safety training for licensees. Also make sure the tree-care company can show you both proof of insurance coverage for professional liability and workers compensation insurance that covers all employees.
If you hire a company without the right insurance, you could be held liable for any deaths, injuries or property damage resulting from the tree work, And your homeowner’s insurance may not cover it if there is a lack of due diligence on your part.
“Homeowners should make sure that those certificates are current and valid before allowing them on the property,” Gerstenberger said.
In the company’s statement on Joe Mandeville’s death in Sharon, Sawing High Climbers stressed the importance of vetting tree workers.
“Tree work comes with tremendous risks, and even despite training and taking every possible precaution, terrible accidents can happen. We hope that homeowners recognize that tree care must always be undertaken by experienced, licensed and insured professionals,” the statement said.
www.ctinsider.com
https://www.ctinsider.com/business/article/tree-worker-deaths-and-injuries-mount-in-ct-18257217.php
