Teen sucked into wood chipper.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

The new ones are relatively safe but if you are going to stick your foot in the thing bad things are going to happen. If he was kicking something that is the only conclusion I can draw because the only place you would kick something is on the hopper.

Tree work is dangerous, always has been and always will be. There is a reason loggers have the highest fatality rates of any profession, it happens to the best of them.

Good points. Technically the crab boat guys have the highest death rate but the tree guys are a close second. (You have to adjust for jobs that aren't 12 months a year) But the last time I looked was probably 4-5 years ago so perhaps it's shifting.

In the MAJORITY of chipper accidents I've seen in the paper over the years the guy was above it and fell in or got sucked in trying to clear a jam by hand or foot.

My own father almost lost a finger doing that with a running lawnmower once and he is one of the more safety minded people I know....just takes one lapse in judgment.

[Skydive Outlaw]

Originally Posted by Delahanty

OMG, how sad. Another working stiff killed on the job. Poor kid.

This story might be a way for banks to promote or encourage potential students to borrow tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree with the premise of 'Get a degree. . . .Save Your Life.'

[gg]

Human's make mistakes. Next case? Seriously, we aren't getting smarter, we are getting dumber because humans are relying on smartphones/Internet and whatever else they can get their hands on to not think. The end result? Lazy people that can't think. Enjoy the beautiful day!

[Skydive Outlaw]

There should be a law that requires at least four hours of training (certified) prior to letting someone operate a wood chipper.

[BruSan]

Originally Posted by Skydive Outlaw

There should be a law that requires at least four hours of training (certified) prior to letting someone operate a wood chipper.

I think even supermarkets require more than that before allowing anyone to run the meat slicer in the butcher department without supervision.

[Mikelee81]

The kid was most likely offered work under the table. He was filling in for one day for someone that couldn't make it in. The odds are most likely any training he would have received would have been audible only and probably direct and to the point at that.


Any suing is going to be like squeezing water from rocks.

[zhugeliang1]

How does a woodchipper "pull in" things - through a vacuum or what? and how fast does it go?

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by zhugeliang1

How does a woodchipper "pull in" things - through a vacuum or what? and how fast does it go?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKLdD9NwoE4

[markg91359]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

I hope that family sues the absolute life out of that company.

Well, they can't.

This is an excellent time to discuss worker's compensation and its shortcomings. When it comes to on-the-job injuries all fifty states have replaced the tort system with a workers compensation system. Here's how it works:

1. An injured employee need not prove that his employer was negligent or careless to recover damages.
2. It is sufficient to simply prove that you were injured while on the job in the course and scope of your employment.
3. Lawsuits against the employer are barred by law.
4. The damages that an employee may collect are limited to: medical expense; a percentage of lost wages; and generally a low lump sum award for permanent impairment as determined by a physician (if there is any)
5. An employee may not collect compensation for physical or mental pain and suffering caused by an on-the-job injury.
6. In case of wrongful death, the employees family is entitled to a lump sum award determined by a mathematical formula. The awards tend to be much less than would be awarded in a successful lawsuit for negligence.
7. Attorney fees are quite limited in workers comp cases in many states. I suppose the advantage is that it leaves more money to compensate injured workers. The disadvantage is that many workers cannot hire someone to represent them and competently advise them.

Workers compensation came into existence because it was hard for an injured employee to prove his employer was negligent in many cases. Employers did not want to have to deal with the court system every time an employee was injured on the job. The court system is not fast at resolving injury and wrongful death claims. So, legislatures created the workers compensation system as a compromise.

One shortcoming of workers compensation is that it doesn't place enough of a financial penalty on employers who truly run a dangerous workplace. They are able to simply purchase workers comp insurance and keep running their business in the same slipshod way they did before.

And that is how the system works when an employee is killed or injured on-the-job.

[Gerania]

A few years ago, or so, my son worked landscape maintenance when he was laid off for a few months. They had him riding mowers, whacking, using a chainsaw and feeding the chipper. He received zero training for any of those things. He told me that after he'd found a day job. He could have been dragged into the chipper.

He also said that only an idiot would get pulled into the chipper. I don't know anything about them; that was his opinion.

I don't necessarily agree. My friend's dad cut off two of his fingers when he was in his 40s and working in a machine shop. Thankfully, he only cut off third and fourth from the last joint of his non-dominant hand. It could have been much worse.