Massachusetts tree worker injured in fall
A Massachusetts man who works trimming and cutting tree branches was injured on the job yesterday when he fell 25 to 30 feet from the bucket of a work truck.
He was flown by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, with what were described as “very serious injuries.”
The accident was in Duxbury, about 30 miles south of Boston.
A captain with the Duxbury Fire Department said the worker appeared to be in his twenties or thirties, but said he didn’t know the man’s name, exact age or what caused him to fall from the truck’s extended boom.
The captain said the man was breathing and conscious after the early afternoon fall, however.
The federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.
That kind of fall from one level to another is the third most common cause of workplace injuries, according to research data by Liberty Mutual Group Inc.
The second most common cause of injuries is a fall that takes place on one level (someone falling to the floor, for instance).
The most common cause of on-the-job injuries: overexertion from lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, holding objects.
Other common causes of injuries that result in employees missing at least six days of work include struck-by incidents (when someone is struck by a vehicle, machine, etc.) and bodily reactions (injuries from standing, bending, reaching, sitting, slipping, etc.).
Other frequent causes of work-related injuries include driving accidents, repetitive motion, assaults, struck by objects and when someone is caught in or compressed by a machine, vehicle or object.
When someone is injured on the job, they’re typically entitled to Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits. If their workers’ comp claim is turned down, they have the right to appeal with the help of a workers’ compensation attorney.
Source: The Patriot Ledger, “Duxbury tree worker falls 25 feet, evacuated by medflight,” March 26, 2013
- Our Boston firm represents Massachusetts workers injured on the job.
