Mobark settles WI chipper death case

[lt1nut]

From today's Racine Journal Times:

Family of man killed by brush chipper settles with company
Story Discussion Journal Times staff | Posted: Thursday, September 3, 2009 11:05 am | (2) Comments

Font Size: Default font size Larger font size The family of a Pleasant Prairie man killed three years ago in a brush chipper accident has finalized a settlement agreement with the company that made the chipper.

Jeremiah Sanders died Aug. 15, 2006, when he was using a brush chipper on a job site. His foot was caught in the chipper when he used it to try dislodging a stuck log.

When Sanders realized his foot was caught, he pressed the safety bar, designed to stop the machine and prevent serious harm. The bar had a faulty ball joint, and did not work. Sanders and his co-workers were not able to stop the machine.

Sanders' family sued Morbark, Inc, the maker of the chipper, saying it was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous.

Morbark was the only brush chipper manufacturer in the world to use "a failure-prone ball-joint system" for its safety bars, according to a release from Habush Habush & Rottier, the law firm representing Sanders' family.

The lawsuit appears to have made a difference, according to Habush Habush & Rottier, as Morbark has changed the design of the safety bar attachment. Attorney Timothy S. Trecek, who represented Sanders' family, does not believe that Morbark commenced a recall, and there may still be Morbark machines in the field with the dangerous ball joint connection.

The settlement amount reached with Morbark is confidential, but it is believed to be the highest pre-trial settlement ever paid by Morbark in a products liability case.

"This settlement ensures that Mr. Sanders' children will be well provided for," Trecek said. Messages left Thursday with Morbark were not immediately returned.

I remember there being a thread here when this originally happened.

Mods- feel free to move this to the correct room/section if you think it would do more good elsewhere.

 

[super3]

I didn't see the other thread on this. I feel for his family but, he used his foot to try to dislodge something in a running chipper? Come on!

 

[rngrchad]

Sounds to me like the owner and or operators didn't "pre-trip" their equipment before heading out to the job. This imo, is no different than a truck driver just blatantly hopping in his rig and tearing ass down the freeway only to find out he's got a tie-rod link about to jump out of the drag-connection off the powersteering pump....wammo there goes the steering and off into the trees he goes. Dead.

Does he sue the mfg of the truck or does his family suck it up and realize he hadn't gone through a safety check-list prior to leaving.

I hate to be so dense, but I really think lawsuits like this, along with liberals, are what is really hurting America.

 

[restoman]

Tort reform maybe. The manufacture should be proactive in making sure products perform under any and all situations.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Sorry, but don't put your foot in the chipper.

 

[Mossy]

Feet in the chipper, hands in the snowblower chute or fingers unclogging the mower. I would have to believe the outcome is predictable.:monkey:

 

[Treetom]

I lent my Morbark 2400 (1997) to my brother for the weekend. It has that ball joint system. I just gave him a call and told him not to put his foot in the chipper. Why would anybody want to put their foot in a chipper?:monkey:

 

[Shagbark]

Proof that stupidity kills you and you're not responsible for your own actions. It is always someone elses fault you are injured or dead.

 

[prentice110]

This happend not too far from me and I knew a inlaw who told me there was more to it than just the linkage. Something was broke and the guy was too cheap to fix it. That was the second fatality in my area in like 2 months.

 

[treesurgeon]

price increase for morbark chippers

what are the chances that his foot got caught and at the same time, the safety bar had a failure.
every chipper just went up in price.

 

[lego1970]

Sounds to me like the owner and or operators didn't "pre-trip" their equipment before heading out to the job. This imo, is no different than a truck driver just blatantly hopping in his rig and tearing ass down the freeway only to find out he's got a tie-rod link about to jump out of the drag-connection off the powersteering pump....wammo there goes the steering and off into the trees he goes. Dead.

Does he sue the mfg of the truck or does his family suck it up and realize he hadn't gone through a safety check-list prior to leaving.

I hate to be so dense, but I really think lawsuits like this, along with liberals, are what is really hurting America.

Unless there is rubber bushings falling out of the sockets a faulty tie-rod is not easy to detect by just a visual check and checking for play by useing a pair of channel locks is not a DOT requirement for a doing a pre-trip inspection, however if the that did happen, you can rest assure the trucking company would be responsible for property damage along with any clean up charges. Unless the company had a poor DOT safety rating, the drivers family wouldn't get squat. Matter of fact more then likely the fault would lie on the driver as "falling asleep at the wheel" and the tie-rod failure a result of the wreck. In a truck if somebody rear ends you it's still considered as a preventable crash because the trucker should of made sure he would not be in a position to stop quickly. That's no BS.

I've known plenty of Rightys that will sue in a heartbeat so please keep politics out of it.

 

[arborist]

I lent my Morbark 2400 (1997) to my brother for the weekend. It has that ball joint system. I just gave him a call and told him not to put his foot in the chipper. Why would anybody want to put their foot in a chipper?:monkey:

well no one want's to literally insert their foot into the chipper to be ground up and, or, for the whole body to be sucked in of course.
rather than take the time to grab another stick because a limb/log jammed,people will simply take their foot and push it in.
safety shortcuts can sometimes lead to a shortcut to the grave as well sadly.
cutting corners when it comes to safety is a no no.very sadly some do not follow this,when in most cases of course we all know better.
though most of us admit when we get hurt most often,perhaps a very bad cut,or lose of a body part,we claim it to be a stupid mistake(meaning we very well knew better,just took a shortcut for production rather than putting safety first.)
safety first.If your asked to put production first on the job,walk away.losing a job beats losing your life.

this is operator error.Morbark shouldn't have had to pay a penny imho.

 

[TreeClimber57]

I just gave him a call and told him not to put his foot in the chipper. :monkey:

What was his response..

 

[TreeClimber57]

Well good to see an apparent defect is corrected, unfortunate it has to be something like this that caused the correction.

I do agree nobody should be operating a mechanical device of any kind if they do not understand and realize the potential risks and hazards and how to avoid them. Putting a foot in a chipper is outright stupidity, sorry.. but that is my opinion.

 

[TreEmergencyB]

not to jack the thread but the 2 other guys both stand on the feed table hold onto the feed/reverse bar and kick in with both feet, we got a new guy and i pointed it out to him if i see you doing the ima tackle u and beat you with a log dont be stupid like them

 

[treemandan]

not to jack the thread but the 2 other guys both stand on the feed table hold onto the feed/reverse bar and kick in with both feet, we got a new guy and i pointed it out to him if i see you doing the ima tackle u and beat you with a log dont be stupid like them

Yeah, boneheads, don't know how to stack the stuff on the hopper so that when you fire it up it gets pulled through without all that nonsense. A lot of " hero" types always do that. It puts undo stress on the stop bar linkages.

I know a guy who lost his leg in a Morbark, they gave him a wooden leg, he lost that in there too. He sued Morbark, I think it was an early model with feed wheels but no stop bar. It seems Morbark has had a few lawsuits concerning this matter.

 

[arborist]

not to jack the thread but the 2 other guys both stand on the feed table hold onto the feed/reverse bar and kick in with both feet, we got a new guy and i pointed it out to him if i see you doing the ima tackle u and beat you with a log dont be stupid like them

OMG!:jawdrop:

 

[outofmytree]

First up, anyone going through a chipper is just bad.

Ok now on to the heart of the matter. You can make any machine as safe as is possible but you cannot make it it idiot proof. On my crew we say "RTFI" which means read the ####ing instructions. On every chipper I have used and owned the instructions say DO NOT PUT YOUR FOOT IN. Case closed.

 

[Treetom]

My bro' said he'd have his buddy "put his foot in the chipper." Actually, they push the stubborn limbs in with a backhoe, too big to push in with your foot. I'll email him the attachment, too. And put a couple new warning decails on the ol' Morbark when I get it back. Tuesday morning the crew will hear about this post, as well as the other one where the guy lost his life in a chipper. I hope that wasn't another Morbark. Sad story, just the same. Work safe.

 

[prentice110]

I heard a fourth hand info rumor that someone on that crew stoped the feed when he was around halfway through, and the guy said ef' it, finish me.