How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 556 severe cases involving trees, logs, and limbs over the past decade. Fractures are the most common injury type, accounting for 55% of all reported incidents. These injuries often require extensive surgery and long-term rehabilitation.
You face significant risks of traumatic impact that can lead to permanent impairment or life-altering physical damage.
Struck by a falling tree? Check what benefits you may be owed.
Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Most injuries occur when you are struck by falling objects, which accounts for 46% of all reported incidents. Whether a tree collapses during felling or a limb drops unexpectedly, the force of impact is often catastrophic. Other common scenarios include falls to lower levels and being pinned by rolling logs during transport or processing.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Struck by falling object | 249 |
| 2 | Other fall to lower level | 109 |
| 3 | Struck by propelled object or substance | 29 |
| 4 | Struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects—non-running | 29 |
| 5 | Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object— unspecified | 27 |
| 6 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 21 |
| 7 | Struck against stationary object | 16 |
| 8 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 13 |
Where injuries happen most
Administrative services accounts for 47% of all reported incidents, often involving tree trimming and landscaping crews. You face high risks when operating in residential or commercial areas where falling debris can easily strike you. Construction and agriculture industries also see significant injury rates due to the physical nature of clearing land and managing timber.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents involve equipment failure during log handling, unexpected tree movement during felling, and insufficient safety zones for ground crews. Many reports highlight situations where a single mechanical failure or a miscalculation in tree stability led to injuries. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you evaluate your case.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | GA | Manufacturing | "A drive chain broke at the wave feeder on the log line infeed. The injured employee came to help move logs with a remote-controlled hoist so they could reach the chain sprocket. He connected the log grapple to a log and started to lift the log with the hoist. The log rolled and pinned his left leg against another log, fracturing his leg. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | OH | Administrative Services | "An employee was undercutting a tree that was lying on a cable when the tree broke and flipped onto them. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their pelvis, ribs, and back." | |
| 2025 | CA | Public Administration | "A crew of approximately 20 employees were constructing hand lines when a dead tree collapsed and injured three of the employees, including two hospitalizations. One employee was hospitalized due to shoulder injuries, and the other employee was hospitalized due to collapsed lungs, spinal injuries, and a broken tibia and fibula." | |
| 2025 | CO | Agriculture | "An employee was fighting a fire in the mountains of Colorado for approximately six hours. At the end of the shift, he was hiking back to the crew vehicles and experienced two seizures and fell to the ground. The employee was hospitalized. Dehydration from heat of the fire and altitude sickness may have contributed to the seizures." | |
| 2025 | MA | Administrative Services | " A three-person crew was trimming trees at an apartment building. The injured employee was cutting an attached limb at ground level. The limb fell and struck the employee on the back, causing him to fall to the ground. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs. " | |
| 2025 | PA | Administrative Services | "An employee was grinding tree stumps using a skid steer with a forestry mower implement. A piece of stump was ejected from the forestry mower and struck the cab of the skid steer and the employee. The employee was also struck by shattered glass from the cab and he sustained lacerations to his hands, right arm, left leg, and right leg, including a lacerated artery below his right knee." | |
| 2025 | ME | Administrative Services | "An employee was descending after trimming up in a tree when the limb that his climb line was attached to failed after he descended 7 feet. The employee fell approximately 30 feet to the ground. The employee sustained three fractured vertebrae and a fractured sternum." | |
| 2025 | PA | Administrative Services | "An employee was removing a storm damaged tree from a utility wire. After making his final cut he began to retreat. The log rolled, striking the employee and rolling over his legs. The employee sustained a laceration to his liver and bruising to his lower legs." | |
| 2025 | NV | Public Administration | "An employee was conducting fire suppression operations on a wildfire. He pulled a hose from the engine. He then charged the hose and began to put on his gloves. A flareup occurred and the employee sustained burns to his face and hands." | |
| 2025 | TX | Administrative Services | "An employee was ascending a tree using a safety line and spikes. He was cutting through tree limbs with a handheld circular saw as he ascended when the saw cut through his safety line. He fell 30 feet from the tree and suffered a broken right tibia." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.