14 y/o kid cuts his rope and falls to death

I know very little of the actual situation, but I feel there is no reason they should have had a 14 yo 50' up a spar doing a removal. It is IMO grossly negligent. Pruning with a handsaw, sounds like a good way to get a kid started getting comfortable climbing. I find this accident really upsetting. I hope the company is held truly accountable for their actions.
 
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Doesn't look like any face cut.

Back cut then barber chair peel is what I see.

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you might be right.. no evidence of a notch.. looks like he was gnawing away at the cut. Could have been just a kerf face and back cut... I would call that a bark tear or rip ... never heard the term "barber chair peel"...

no matter what you call it, its unquestionable that poor cutting technique was a direct cause!
 
This is the kind of story that makes me feel justified in my actions a couple of weeks ago.

As a Supervisor of a tree crew in a major municipality, I am familiar with companies that are licensed and unlicensed.

I don't usually stop and say anything to companies that IMO are clearly unlicensed as it is not directly in my job duties. I will occasionally stop and say something to a Homeowner about to make themselves a Darwin award winner.


So when I came home after work a couple of weeks ago to a "company" 2 doors down from me pruning in spikes on my neighbors trees and no hard hats, and no license(confirmed later). I probably would have let it go at that and informed my neighbor later that this company was a bunch of hacks, but as I turned around in my truck I noticed a 7-10 yr old boy running around in the front yard picking up brush with no hard hat(not that the climbers had them on).

Saying I came unglued would be putting it mildly.

Being billingual I was able to tell them what I thought about there professional judgement in Spanish & English.

I called our Arboreal Inspection division adn they gave him a $150 ticket for no license(unfortunately not enought of a detterent IMO). I should've called OSHA or the state labor board.

In this day and age it is hard to know when to speak up and speak your mind. One of the ground guys sent a veiled threat my way saying "he knew where I lived" and maybe "I should just go home" I would still do it again though just not in such a confrontational manner. I felt like immediate action needed to be taken before the kid got a stub in the face.
 
First....THOUGHTS, PRAYERS, AND CONDOLENCES to this kids friends and relatives. Second.....it appears a simple friction saver prussik (or some kind of second tie in like Daniel mentioned) may very well have saved him. BAD JUDGEMENT somewhere along the line seems to be the cause of most accidents and on this one the employer should know that the climber should have 2 tie ins and make sure the climber regardless of age should use them.....that said some employees refuse to follow regulations so I don't want to finger point. I have video documentation of my son at age 2 pointing out all the parts of a saw including kickback zone, pushing chain, pulling etc etc. with continuous training I let him limb our dying pine (now age 12) he's not ready to dump tops out at 50 ft though but kids take to things at different aptitude levels. I know several arbos who were on jobs as children.......but to learn.....not do the nasty climbing! (I was on jobs at age 3......never in the drop zone though. Still remember: some of the things I learned, funny stories, and Dads crew never had any accidents.) I THINK HIS AGE WAS NOT THE CAUSE! Just my opinion.
 
I don't think his age was the cause either, kids are very capable. I don't feel it is very likely that a fourteen year old has the experience I would require of some one performing a removal of that apparent scale. I truly hope no one on my crew would make a cut that wound up looking like that.
 
He could've been a 40 yo with no experience. The point being inexperienced climber working way above his skill level. The fact that he was 14 makes it both tragic and criminal. Kid should not have been working this job in any capacity.

"that said some employees refuse to follow regulations so I don't want to finger point."

No, give them a verbal warning the first time then a written one. If they continue to refuse to adhere to regs then fire them. That is the only way you'll change attitudes. If the company allows regs to be ignored and employees r allowed to pick and choose the ones they follow then the company is setting itself up for some serious liability.

I have fired someone over just such an issue despite his abilities to do the job well. If I allowed him to continue then who would bother to listen to me as the crew leader?
 
Yup I agree. I just didn't know was going on at that co......so I didn't want to speculate either for the climber or owners fault in the wake of this major tragedy! So sad.....
 
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If it goes to court the homeowners will likely be named as defendants. They'll have to prove they didn't know that the victim was underaged.

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It's more likely it would have to be proved they did.
 
"Wilkes believed that Bryant was 16 years old, according to the affidavit, but a state statute restricts employment of minors under 18 in a logging occupation."

What defines "logging occupation"? If those logs weren't going to a mill he might not get in much trouble.
 
The employer needs to know that a 16 y.o would likely consider to young unless he's got specific knowledge that a tree service isn't included within the definition of logging operation.

Did he not obtain i.d. and verify it? Sounds like a rather sloppy operation on the administrative side.
 
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