Tree trim worker breaks leg in freak crane accident

On Behalf of | Feb 13, 2013 | Workers' Compensation

Everyone has likely seen those big truck-mounted cranes. They make their way around Bucks County and other communities, being put to use as needed on all sorts of projects. Sometimes they help put things up. Sometimes they help bring things down. Sometimes things go wrong and job sight accidents occur that prompt workers’ compensation situations.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking into one such accident that occurred earlier this month across the river in our neighbor state to the east. Though the situation happened there, it could easily have happened here.

According to authorities, a tree trimming worker was on a site in Camden County, New Jersey. He was up in a bucket truck trying to bring down a large tree that was threatening a home in the neighborhood. Helping in the effort was a crane truck. It apparently was holding up a limb that was being trimmed to control the felling process.

The owner of the crane company truck says the tree trimming company apparently overestimated the weight load being put on the crane. When the limb was cut through, the crane tipped over toward the worker in the bucket. He leaped from the bucket to escape and landed on a house roof, breaking his leg. At the same time, the crane operator wound up being trapped in his control cabin for an hour by a hot, downed power line.

It’s fortunate that the injuries in this case were limited to just a broken leg. Obviously they could have been much worse. When accidents of any kind happen on a job site, those injured deserve the fullness of benefits that workers’ compensation coverage allows. To be sure they get it, it can help to consult with an experienced attorney.

Source: KYW-TV, “Tree Trimmer Breaks Leg In Freak Crane Accident In Haddonfield,” Steve Beck and Jenn Bernstein, Feb. 7, 2013

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