Judge affirms OSHA penalties from 2016 wood chipper fatality

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) willful and serious citations against Tony Watson, doing business as Countryside Tree Service of Greenfield, Illinois, have been affirmed by an administrative law judge with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). OSHA issued its citations after an employee died after being pulled into a wood chipper on his first day on the job at a Schenectady, New York, worksite. The judge’s decision also orders the employer to pay $66,986 in penalties.

OSHA’s investigation revealed that Watson directed the employee to feed materials into the wood chipper knowing that he had not trained the employee on how to do so safely.

OSHA cited Watson for five violations of workplace safety standards on Nov. 2, 2016. Watson contested the citations to the OSHRC, leading to a trial in October 2017. The judge found that Watson willfully permitted the victim to work with the wood chipper without proper safety training in spite of Watson’s knowledge of the need for such training.

“The U.S. Department of Labor pursues appropriate legal actions to ensure that employers comply with the law to safeguard their employees against potentially deadly or disabling workplace hazards,” says Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff.

OSHA’s Albany Area Office conducted the original inspection. Senior Trial Attorney Terrence Duncan from the Department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case. The decision is available online.

OSHA’s Tree Care Industry webpage offers resources on recognizing and preventing tree care hazards, including hazards of wood chippers and solutions for tree care hazards.