Davey Tree Surgery Co. Cited For Employee Fatality

The Davey Tree Surgery Co., an East Bay, CA-based utility service contractor, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for alleged workplace safety violations after an employee was killed last summer at an Idaho City job site, according to a press release.

The company is part of the Kent-based , which also has .

"In this case, the employer failed to adhere to safe practices, which resulted in the death of an employee when he was struck by a falling tree," Dean Ikeda, OSHA regional administrator in Seattle, said in the release. "The hazardous nature of tree clearing operations requires that employers take an aggressive and comprehensive stance toward workplace safety."

Sanda Reid, manager of corporate communications/marketing at Davey Tree in Kent, said today the company is contesting the citations.

“We cooperated with OSHA officials on the investigation, and share their commitment to assuring safe and healthy working conditions,” Reid said. “However, in the current matter, which is ongoing, we have contested the citations.”

OSHA has issued one citation for serious violations and one for an “other-than-serious violation” related to the June death of Robert Lynn Butterfield, 54, of Pocatello, ID. Proposed penalties for the violations total $31,175.

According to the website ktvb.com, Davey Tree Surgery Co. was hired by Idaho Power to cut down trees near power lines. The crew was working in a subdivision and had tied a tree and made a cut that didn't bring it down. When they made another cut, the tree fell in a different direction, landing on Butterfield.

OSHA reported the serious violation involves failing to have adequate first-aid supplies, ensure that workers maintain a safe distance from trees being felled, evaluate the work area prior to the tree being felled, provide training for tool and equipment use, and provide training for determining tree length.

OSHA stated that a serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

The other-than-serious violation was for failing to report the fatality to OSHA within eight hours and to use the agency's toll-free hotline to report the incident after hours. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

The Idaho employee fatality was the company's second in 2011, according to OSHA. The first fatality occurred in Pennsylvania on Feb. 24 under similar circumstances and resulted in similar citations.

The company was given 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The Davey Tree Expert Co., which is employee owned, has operations in 45 states and five provinces throughout the U.S. and Canada.