Date of incident: September 2023
Notice of incident number: 2023178680005
Employer: Construction company

Incident summary
Workers were performing maintenance work on a bridge deck on a forest service road in a remote location. The work was being performed on a road built into the face of a sheer cliff. While they were working, a tree fell from the cliff, striking one of the workers. The worker sustained fatal injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Worker struck by dangerous tree. The worker was performing his duties at the worksite when a dangerous tree fell from the adjacent cliff face.

Contributing factors

• No dangerous tree assessment. The employer did not perform any assessment of the trees near the worksite and assumed that a dangerous tree assessment had been performed by the site owner without seeking any confirmation. Given that the worksite was directly below trees of an unknown condition and that the work being performed created high levels of disturbance, it was reasonable to foresee that the work would expose a worker to a dangerous tree. A dangerous tree assessment should have been completed by a qualified person before work began.
• Inadequate hazard identification and risk assessment. On two occasions in the weeks before the incident, the employer documented that dangerous trees were a hazard but did not provide any plans for controlling the hazard. The employer did not adequately identify the hazard of falling trees or assess the risks they presented to workers. The employer did not implement any controls for falling trees.
• Lack of safe work procedures. The employer was aware that dangerous trees could be a hazard because it had safe work procedures stating that equipment should not be parked near dangerous trees and that dangerous trees should be considered when completing steep-slope hazard assessments. However, the employer did not have any safe work procedures addressing when a dangerous tree assessment should be performed or any procedures for working near trees.
• Inadequate supervision. Although the employer documented several aspects of its supervisory activities, the supervision it provided at the worksite was inadequate. The employer did not identify hazards or assess the risks of falling trees; did not provide safe work procedures for working near dangerous trees; and, although it identified dangerous trees as a hazard on two occasions, did not implement any mitigating controls.

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