Tragedy in Wisconsin

deerlakejens · Aug 16, 2006

Man killed in wood chipper accident

A 30-year-old man was killed this afternoon when he was sucked into a wood chipper while trying to shake loose a piece of wood that had jammed it.

The man owned a tree service company working in the 8900 block of 26th Ave. in Pleasant Prairie, according to a Pleasant Prairie Police Department press release.

The man was using his foot to clear debris that had jammed the wood chipper around 5:20 p.m. when his foot became entangled in the machine, witnesses told police.

His coworkers tried to rescue him from the intake, but he was pulled into and through the wood chipper, according to the release.

The incident remains under investigation by Pleasant Prairie detectives, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner's office and officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Police withheld the man's name while they attempted to notify his family

musch · Aug 16, 2006

Wow. Not far from me.
Pray for his family
That is absolutely horrible.
There is no limit to always remembering good sense and safety first.
Best wishes to all you pros out there in harms way daily.

314epw · Aug 16, 2006

not much to say

After you read something like that,my head starts going through all the safety rules that we should follow.It happened at 5pm,the man was probably tired and wanted just to go home.
Ed

l2edneck · Aug 16, 2006

Thoughts and prayers.....

:bang: once again just proves this is a very hazardous occupation so remember it can all happen in a second.Take all you have to be as safe as possible.

Oly's Stump · Aug 16, 2006

The victim is Jerimiah Sanders owner of Quality Tree Service. I sub-contracted all his stumps. He was also a good friend of mine. I was not at the scene when this occurred but arrived shortly thereafter. He made a major mistake while chipping brush with a Morback Model 13 Hurricane chipper. Jerimiah made a big mistake and used his foot to push a short large chunk of log into the chipper. The wheels grabbed his foot and pulled him into the chipper. The reverse bar did not work at the time this accident occurred. It was reported to have been working earlier prior to the accident. Five other workers on the scene attempted to help Jerimiah but his entire body was pulled into the chipper. He was 6'7" tall. This was a real night mare. I still cannot believe it happened. Guys please be careful out there.

Jumper · Aug 16, 2006

Sad to hear of this accident-all the more so because it was 100% preventable. As mentioned elsewhere, it likely was a situation where he just wanted to wrap up the work day asap. RIP

As an aside, I worked one day for a company that wanted 12+ hour days so they could have a four day week. I declined their offer of permanent employment after my "tryout" day as I just could not see their operation being a very safe one after the eight hour point, especially on hot summer days.

Wizazz · Aug 18, 2006

Thats a Horrible way to go.
I known this Guy many years... Good Guy... Good drinking buddy.
I live Down the street here from where it happened. Police and rescue were all leaving the scene Puking and Sick from the sight of what happen.... Most of them never seen something like that so Horrific. And all the police and emergency workers that took the call had to get a few days off after the inncident to get councelling.

The Guy's Name Is...

"Jeremiah P. Sanders"

Everyone Pray For his Family.... And God rest his Soul.:angel:

Log hog · Aug 18, 2006

Why?

WOW! Only 3 hours from me. I can't even fathom what that seen would of been like for the man it happened to and the people working with there. It sounds so disturbing. I have a Morbark 2012 Storm 12", I have to discipline my employees every so often about pushing things into the chipper with there hands. I say use a rake or big grain shovel. I can't understand why you would bring your leg up and try and kick a log into the feed shoot. That's just crazy. No matter how many stickers they throw on a machine, some one always thinks "it wont happen to me". I feel very bad for there family and pray for them. On my chipper there is a emergency stop button that kills the motor and the feed wheels immediately, its located right above the feed wheel reversal bar. And it works because I and one of my employees have bumped it on accident before. I tell them no matter how Strong you think you are the feed wheels will pull you in. Lets all be safe out there guy and girls.

tazz001 · Aug 19, 2006

Oh man...bad nasty way to go. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this poor fella!!

Please oh please make sure anyone who uses this type of equipment or any peice of equipment never ever get lazy and disregard safety instruction!!

Accidents can and will happen to the best when rules and safety isn't followed.

Condolences to all who knew and loved this man.

boo · Aug 19, 2006

Sorry to hear another tragedy, my sympathy for the loved ones.

A push stick with holder (round metal tube) welded close to the mouth of the chipper would help encourage use.
paint it red, mount it in view in reach.

Eagle1 · Aug 19, 2006

"Pulled in and though the chipper"?? Wow....God bless anyone who saw that, friends and family. My God!!

Plant Manager · Aug 20, 2006

Wow,

One can only imagine! I still get nausiated when I think of this. 2 Kids a wife and another child on the way trying to make a buck doing somthing he enjoyed doing.

Lesson to be learned..... If or when the reverse wheels are not working a 100% please stop and turn it off!!!! The job can wait another day. Nothing and I repeat nothing is as important as going home.

Most all our equipment has the potential to kill. Use it knowing this. If it is'nt working right please get it fixed. I learned my lesson and it only cost me a couple dozen stitches yet like Jerimiah I wanted to get home with the job done. I was lucky as have been most of you. We all have at least one story.
The hopeful thing is to be able to tell it.

Prayers for Jerimiah's family, freinds, Co-workers, and customers who saw this horrible accident and the first care providers who arrived on the scene only hoping to be of help.

Lets all get to work tomorrow with our gaurd up, Jerimiah in our thoughts, and his family and freinds in our prayers.

Lets all be SAFE out there!!

John Paul Sanborn · Aug 27, 2006

Brings to mind Tom D's watch words for safe operations

Widows and orphans.

There is enough risk in our day to day operations to do things that will increase them so much.

Didn't Kenny say he laminated a story like this for his people to read?

Another though for stopping the infee, would taking the PTO out stop them, or would it just keep pumping? Kill the engine?

Kneejerk Bombas · Aug 27, 2006

If the feed wheel controller failed, turning down the throttle would at least stop them. I don't know if disengaging the clutch would stop them on a Morbark.
It's just so horrible, and happens so fast, who's going to have the presence of mind to think about the different ways to stop the feed wheels.
When running a chipper, one uses the feed wheel controller quite frequently. How could he not know it didn't work? It seems improbable that it just happen to break at the one time something happened.
God bless his family.

Log hog · Aug 27, 2006

I am not sure of all the details. At McDonalds for breakfast with my son yesterday and me a a gent were talking about the accident and he said he read that the chipper he was using was a rental. His chipper was in the shop being fixed, any truth to this or not. Regardless don't kick your foot in the feed shoot. If this is true about the rental company, some body is in serious trouble. Just some scary crap. I was on line and they interviewed the home owner and the nephew, very sad to watch, very. I pray that all of you out there realize how dangerous our profession is. I was at a Vermeer/Climbing seminar on Friday and they told us that the Police Force and the Fire departments jobs rank lower than ours for danger, and the chance for death.

RedlineIt · Aug 27, 2006

Most sincere condolences to the family and to those who witnessed this horrific event. You have my heartfelt sympathy and profound wishes for personal recovery from this tragic event.

---------------------------

Yours,

RedlineIt

Lorra · Aug 27, 2006

Log hog said:
I am not sure of all the details. At McDonalds for breakfast with my son yesterday and me a a gent were talking about the accident and he said he read that the chipper he was using was a rental. His chipper was in the shop being fixed, any truth to this or not. Regardless don't kick your foot in the feed shoot. If this is true about the rental company, some body is in serious trouble. Just some scary crap. I was on line and they interviewed the home owner and the nephew, very sad to watch, very. I pray that all of you out there realize how dangerous our profession is. I was at a Vermeer/Climbing seminar on Friday and they told us that the Police Force and the Fire departments jobs rank lower than ours for danger, and the chance for death.

Geez this forum is interesting. A thought occurred to me after reading the last sentence of the above post. When a police officer or firefighter dies in the line of duty, it almost always has nothing to do with making a very stupid decision or being very irresponsible. I've been reading about tree service fatalities, and 100 percent of the time, it's the result of poor choices, irresponsibility, not thinking, being careless, not following safety protocol, etc.
When that poor cop pulls over a speeder and walks toward the driver's car, and the driver shoots him in the chest, the officer didn't do anything stupid or careless. He was doing what he was trained to do. But nobody is trained to put their foot in a chipper or tie in wrong in a tree. And a firefighter is trained to go into a burning building---nothing careless about that, that's his job.
The most dangerous profession doesn't have to be so dangerous, if people would just think instead of getting ahead of themselves. It's like driving. Some people will flip a car over. And others never will.

boo · Aug 27, 2006

Lorra said:
Geez this forum is interesting. A thought occurred to me after reading the last sentence of the above post. When a police officer or firefighter dies in the line of duty, it almost always has nothing to do with making a very stupid decision or being very irresponsible. I've been reading about tree service fatalities, and 100 percent of the time, it's the result of poor choices, irresponsibility, not thinking, being careless, not following safety protocol, etc.
When that poor cop pulls over a speeder and walks toward the driver's car, and the driver shoots him in the chest, the officer didn't do anything stupid or careless. He was doing what he was trained to do. But nobody is trained to put their foot in a chipper or tie in wrong in a tree. And a firefighter is trained to go into a burning building---nothing careless about that, that's his job.
The most dangerous profession doesn't have to be so dangerous, if people would just think instead of getting ahead of themselves. It's like driving. Some people will flip a car over. And others never will.

That's not a very good way to make friends here.... Lorra.
Not a very smart and/or accurate statement you made there, if you've read much at all. (100 percent?!)
I could go on about how equipment fails, cops don't get shot at every day, and firefighters don't fight fires every day.... unlike tree workers.
I'm sure you would have a better appreciation, respect and understanding if your occupation was that of a person in the tree service industry.
Do it.... THEN bragg about it. :heart:

Maybe one day we will all be as perfect as you, until then we will strive harder for such perfection.

woodchux · Aug 27, 2006

I think that the main cause of accidents in our profession is exhaustion.

It's some incredibly difficult work !

Be Safe-

BlueRidgeMark · Aug 27, 2006

boo said:
That's not a very good way to make friends here.... Lorra.
Not a very smart and/or accurate statement you made there, if you've read much at all. (100 percent?!)

Lorra's not 100% right. But she's not 100% wrong, either. Cops DO get themselves killed by being stupid sometimes, and I'm sure that some tree accidents happen that are NOT the result of stupidity - just the result of doing dangerous things day in and day out. Sooner or later, the law of averages is going to catch somebody. A spar or rope that looked good unexpectedly breaks, a machine fails when it shouldn't, etc.

But look at all the posts in this forum. How many of these accidents were NOT a result of doing something stupid? What's the percentage of death by stupidity vs. death by ordinary risks of the job? Yeah, I understand exhaustion. It DOES make us stupid. BTDT. But it's still stupid.

The only thing more dangerous than stupidity is complacency.

Tragedy in Wisconsin

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