Fill out our simple 'Tree worker incident form' and play your part in improving the safety of our industry with our crowd-sourced data.
The Arboriculture industry statistically is one of the most dangerous professions in the world. It is imperative that the health and safety within our industry keeps evolving. It is our responsibility as Arborists to implement the safe work practices on our job sites, to wear all relevant PPE, to train apprentices and new hires in the correct way without allowing bad habits and potentially dangerous techniques.
We need to analyze our own incidents, learn from them, and figure out where mistakes were made and how the incident can be avoided/prevented in the future. We have to share these stories and experiences with our colleagues, and if possible to an even broader audience through social media and industry events.
Our goal is to create the most comprehensive 'Tree Worker incident database' that includes close calls and injuries. This database outlines the type of injury, the cause, a detailed description of the incident, factors leading to the incident and what could have been changed to avoid the injury (in the opinion of the contributor).
Date of incident | Incident | Type of incident | Outcome | Location of incident |
---|---|---|---|---|
| Minor injury | Hamilton New Zealand | ||
05/03/2021 |
| Minor injury | New Zealand | |
03/14/2022 | 40 ft fall from tree |
| Serious injury | Homosassa, FL United States |
05/13/2019 | Aerial rescue from tree whilst working on powerlines |
| Serious injury | Tilba, Nsw Australia |
07/18/2019 | Bee nest |
| Minor injury | Devon United Kingdom |
07/01/2019 | Broken pinky, cuts to the hands, loss of feeling in 2 fingers |
| Minor injury | United States |
10/15/2022 | Chain Saw Cut - Left thumb. |
| Minor injury | Northern Ireland, Killinchy United Kingdom |
09/20/2022 | Chainsaw cut to the neck |
| Fatal | Huntington, WV United States |
08/19/2021 | Chainsaw hit wrist during limb cut |
| Serious injury | Sarnia, Ontario Canada |
10/10/2018 | Cut chainsaw boot |
| Close call | Port Coquitlam, BC Canada |
Cut rigging rope |
| Property damage | Hamilton New Zealand | |
04/06/2019 | Equipment failure |
| Close call | Greenville, SC United States |
05/03/2019 | Failed to couple chipper correctly |
| Close call | Hamilton New Zealand |
07/30/2020 | Fall From Height |
| Serious injury | Norfolk United Kingdom |
10/31/2021 | Fall From Height |
| Serious injury | Robeline, Louisiana United States |
08/24/2020 | Forearm cut with Pole Pruner |
| Minor injury | Oakville, Ontario Canada |
10/12/2017 | Handsaw cut to left hand, partially severed tendon |
| Serious injury | Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Canada |
09/22/2022 | Laceration to left hand |
| Serious injury | Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States |
01/12/2021 | left hand cut with chainsaw |
| Serious injury | Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina |
10/05/2022 | Live oak twig rammed up nostril |
| Minor injury | Work site, California United States |
09/28/2017 | Loss of control in directional felling |
| Property damage | Vancouver, BC Canada |
09/23/2022 | Serious rope burning |
| Serious injury | Hamilton, New Zealand New Zealand |
10/01/2019 | Smashed Hand |
| Serious injury | Traverse City, Michigan United States |
03/24/2022 | Snapped leader/main anchor of a young Acer tree |
| Close call | Berlin, Berlin Germany |
11/13/2020 | Struck by |
| Fatal | Amarillo, Texas United States |
Date of incident | Incident | Type of incident | Outcome | Location of incident |