Owner of tree removal company guilty in death

SirTreeRat

SirTreeRat

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http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100211/NEWS/2110425/-1/NEWSMAP

Owner of tree removal company guilty in death


February 11, 2010 2:00 AM
BRENTWOOD (AP) — A New Hampshire business owner is facing up to seven years in prison after being found guilty of negligent homicide in the 2007 death of an employee killed while helping cut down an 80-foot pine tree.

Fifty-three-year-old Maurice Buzzell of East Kingston was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday.

Buzzell owns and operates Buzzell Tree Service.

The New Hampshire Union Leader says 22-year-old Jon Paul LaVigeur was killed when he was hit by a piece of the tree that was being cut in Kingston.

Prosecutors say Buzzell required his workers to stand within the fall zone of the trees they were cutting down and not move until the tree started to fall.

Buzzell's lawyers argued LaVigeur's death was an unfortunate accident that he could not be blamed for.
 
I wonder how they proved the guy required his employees to stand under the? And why the heck would anyone obey that rule???
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This is absolutely insane!!Short rope or not,the employee's have to carry at least a fraction of the responsibility,for what happens.The story doesn't say if it was the guys first day doing tree work or if he had 20 years experience.Either way common sense has to prevail.There's been accident's in the town where i live,and if the guy has 20 years experience and did something stupid,they still put 100% of the blame on the business owner!!Worker's comp,safety meetings,ppe,none of it matters,if something happens the business owner gets screwed!
 
The employee did carry some of the responsibility and paid with his life. The fact that the employer required, demanded, insisted, or whatever, them to operate in the drop zone is what he is being held accountable for.

At the end of the day, an employer holds the balance of power in the relationship since they can threaten expressly or tacitly the employees livelihood they are responsible for their employees wellbeing. I've been injured on the job and while I did carry some of the responsibility the employer was assessed for their role in the accident.


Too many employers expect staff to work without training, safety meetings, ppe, or properly functioning equipment. When the day comes that all employers adhere to the regulations then maybe employees will be assessed and fined.
 
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At the end of the day, an employer holds the balance of power in the relationship since they can threaten expressly or tacitly the employees livelihood they are responsible for their employees wellbeing.

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That has not held true in my experience. One of my earliest jobs was to deliver big TV sets. I was told that 2 people would go on every delivery. In a few days they had me going alone, and insisted that I drive above the speed limit. Power on their part? Maybe none, or little.

I quit for safety reasons and got another job.

At that point, they lost their means to transport goods until they could get a replacement, inviting vulnerability to their company. I think what an employer may hold is the balance to weakness or strength within their own company.
 
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When you can walk away then you have the balance of power. Many don't feel they can without serious consequences and stay put.

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That's a personal choice on there part.If they make a bad decision to stay and do something obviously unsafe,why is none of the responsibility on them?If two guys rob a bank and one gets shot by the police,do they charge the other with murder,because he planned the robbery?I'm not trying to stick up for an idiot business owner,all i'm saying is honest guys who put in the effort to do things by the book get screwed when something bad happens.I think the fact that this is a very dangerous industry should be considered,but rarely is.If you choose to get up in the morning and go to a job that could severely injure or kill you,don't look to blame someone else if it happens.
 
The reason I like working in this field is the true team work it takes. It is dangerous but it takes a solid team effort to make it safe for everyone.

Committing a crime and going to work are worlds apart. Day in and day out, people go to jobs that are made more dangerous than need be by the people who make the decisions, i.e., owners/managers, etc... It is the culture of the work world to take risks, shortcuts and keep the cost to a minimum. When the majority of companies do not adhere to the OSHA regs then a worker is left without a lot of choice and may stay with a company due to financial pressures and a poor job outlook hoping they will be as lucky as their boss at maintaining their health and wellbeing.

When I look around and see most companies, including large private and public ones, operating without the basic safe work practices in place then I have to wonder where does one go to work? Around here even the utility company's crews only don ppe when they are caught by the inspectors.

We are not all so fortunate as to have the leeway to make such choices as to walk away from a paying job.

Again, the decision made against an employer is based on their role in the accident not on the accident in itself.
 
I think that the take away message from this is that people need to have written safety meetings, at least bullet points of what is discussed. Then everyone in attendance signs and dates the form.

I will periodically have a safety meeting, especially after a new person is brought on.

If your training and safety procedures are not written down and signed off by trained personnel, you are closer to having no proof to Cover Your A*%!


I can't find a e-form, so...

My format is basically


Safety Meeting
Date:
Location:
Attendees:

Site Description: (this is for things like road traffic, pedestrian traffic, powerlines, slopes, other hazards such as pre-existing hangers, etc)

Proper techniques: (proper use of ppe, Call and Response, safe cutting techniques, tool storage (always use one area for tools, or put in the truck), safe chipping techniques, etc, proper diet and hydration, safe lifting techniques, stretching, warming-up/ cooling-down, always have a "Backer-upper"/ guide for backing up equipment, always driver's responsibility to check everything before moving vehicles)

Near Misses/ Incidents to discuss:


Signature and Date by attendees:
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think that the take away message from this is that people need to have written safety meetings, at least bullet points of what is discussed. Then everyone in attendance signs and dates the form.

I will periodically have a safety meeting, especially after a new person is brought on.

If your training and safety procedures are not written down and signed off by trained personnel, you are closer to having no proof to Cover Your A*%!


I can't find a e-form, so...

My format is basically


Safety Meeting
Date:
Location:
Attendees:

Site Description: (this is for things like road traffic, pedestrian traffic, powerlines, slopes, other hazards such as pre-existing hangers, etc)

Proper techniques: (proper use of ppe, Call and Response, safe cutting techniques, tool storage (always use one area for tools, or put in the truck), safe chipping techniques, etc, proper diet and hydration, safe lifting techniques, stretching, warming-up/ cooling-down, always have a "Backer-upper"/ guide for backing up equipment, always driver's responsibility to check everything before moving vehicles)

Near Misses/ Incidents to discuss:


Signature and Date by attendees:

[/ QUOTE ]


It doesn't matter if they sign them.That's my point,there's absolutely nothing you can do to protect yourself from lawsuits and now apparently murder charges!I have a good friend in the business going through a lawsuit right now,involving a dumbass who just wasnt paying attention.All the proper safety meetings,ppe,etc. were in place.As soon as the ambulance chasing lawers get involved it all gets thrown out.Just remember as a business owner your always just minutes away from a murder charge!
 
Ah yes, the American way, sue first ask questions later. That is a case for the civil courts to decide. Here I do agree with you that it sucks that a situation can get so out of hand even after the owner is exonerated by OSHA (I presume that is the case?) because a litigation lawyer sees a buck in it. As for a murder charge, I don't think it is as bad as all that. But then again, maybe it's time since many employers still biatch and complain about having to comply to safety regs. Your friend is obviously not one of those but they are many.
 
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It doesn't matter if they sign them.That's my point,there's absolutely nothing you can do to protect yourself from lawsuits and now apparently murder charges!I have a good friend in the business going through a lawsuit right now,involving a dumbass who just wasnt paying attention.All the proper safety meetings,ppe,etc. were in place.As soon as the ambulance chasing lawers get involved it all gets thrown out.Just remember as a business owner your always just minutes away from a murder charge!

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Yes, when lawyers get involved, all can go wrong.

I would say that having documentation of training and safety meetings is only going to help you in borderline cases.

This can help you to defend yourself against wrongful termination lawsuits as well, if you document training and infractions and consequences. You have to get away from involving dumbasses. You can't train a dumbass to be sensible and safe.

Sorry to hear that this is happening to your good friend.
 
I own a tree service that works the same area as those guys and from my point of view it was a needless accident. The climber takes sole responsibility for safety on the work site and if you happen to be the owner also that goes double for you. I certainly do not agree with the sue happy mentality that people have but a groundman is only as good as whoever is in charge. So you have short ropes bid your work so you can take a drive to the saw shop and buy a longer one retard. Seven years in prison is nothing compared to DEATH! It stinks to have to always have to think about getting sued but guys who are thinking about it anyways are probably safe workers who wouldn't put their crew in harms way!
 
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I own a tree service that works the same area as those guys and from my point of view it was a needless accident. The climber takes sole responsibility for safety on the work site and if you happen to be the owner also that goes double for you. I certainly do not agree with the sue happy mentality that people have but a groundman is only as good as whoever is in charge. So you have short ropes bid your work so you can take a drive to the saw shop and buy a longer one retard. Seven years in prison is nothing compared to DEATH! It stinks to have to always have to think about getting sued but guys who are thinking about it anyways are probably safe workers who wouldn't put their crew in harms way!

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But what if you don't put your crew in harms way?What if you do everything you should and an accident happens,What then?Cases like the one mentioned in this thread will set the precedent for future issues like this.Just don't be surprised if you find yourself in a court room looking at prison time,because some dumbass was thinking about the fight he had with his wife last night instead of staying focused on his job.
 
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But what if you don't put your crew in harms way?What if you do everything you should and an accident happens,What then?Cases like the one mentioned in this thread will set the precedent for future issues like this.Just don't be surprised if you find yourself in a court room looking at prison time,because some dumbass was thinking about the fight he had with his wife last night instead of staying focused on his job.

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Scary thot...Will make me that much more careful about who I hire.
 
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But what if you don't put your crew in harms way?What if you do everything you should and an accident happens,What then?Cases like the one mentioned in this thread will set the precedent for future issues like this.Just don't be surprised if you find yourself in a court room looking at prison time,because some dumbass was thinking about the fight he had with his wife last night instead of staying focused on his job.

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Scary thot...Will make me that much more careful about who I hire.

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If only it were that easy.
 
Part of the responsibility of owners of a business that performs dangerous work is to ensure the employees are focused on the work and not on their personal issues. It's the cost of doing business. This doesn't set a precedence just enforces the importance of managing your people effectively. In this case the negligence was such that it was deemed criminal. As for your friend he is fortunate that he has been on top of safety and has the documentation to support that. He'll have his day in court to demonstrate this. Let's hope he has a jury of his peers!
 
I understand what you guys are saying,and i don't want to seem like im defending crew leader's or owner's who have no regard for the safety of there worker's.But you have to admit that no matter how closely you manage your people some things are just out of your control.Accident's happen,they just do.
 
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