Make sure and train you new hires!

GASTON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - A Gastonia man was pulled into a wood chipper and killed over the weekend, police say.

Officials believe 19-year-old Mason Scott Cox was attempting to kick a limb into the chipper when he got pulled in. The incident happened around 12:37 p.m. Saturday on Hawthorne Road in Kings Mountain.

The company, Crawford Tree Service out of Belmont, was cutting down trees in a yard. The Department of Labor and Kings Mountain Police are investigating. They say the death was accidental and no foul play is believed to be involved.

Cox was found inside the wood chipper and pronounced dead on scene, officials say.

Cox's family spoke to WBTV in an interview Monday morning. Cox's mother, Debra Sisk, said the teen had very limited experience in the tree removal industry, but had worked on cell towers before. She questions whether he was being supervised when the accident happened.

"It was his first day on this job. He was trying to find work and he had been putting in applications," Sisk explained.

She said she got the phone call about the accident Saturday afternoon and said it was horrifying to learn how her son had died.

"I just started screaming when I found out how he died. It's bad enough that's he's gone," she said.

Family members said they currently have no plans to contact the company Cox was working for. They said they aren't angry over the incident, but they would like to know how the accident happened.

"I loved him very much and I'm going to miss him very much," said Cox's mother.

Jon Crawford, owner of Crawford Tree Service, spoke to WBTV about the incident in an interview over the phone. He said Cox was working for him as a subcontractor Saturday, He said he still isn't sure how the accident happened.

"The limb must have grabbed a piece of his clothing and took him into the chipper," said Crawford.

The business owner said that the work site was safe and Cox wasn't performing any tasks too difficult for a beginner.

"I've been in the business for 26 years. I've had one other accident where a person was injured. Mason Cox was working side by side with two experienced employees," Crawford said.

He said the incident has left him filled with grief.

"I have not slept. I am sick from it," Crawford said. "I would trade places with that child right now."

He said his business is going to temporarily close because of the incident.

Copyright 2015 WBTV. All rights reserved.

Solo chipping with a 1500 first day on the job!

26 years in this biz and he's learned nothing, except how to lose his business, and young lives.

http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/loca...fter-being-pulled-into-wood-chipper/76913366/

How many more Gerstenberger?

Jomo
 
A place I contract for has guys that are always putting their feet in the chippers cause they jam the thing so full they can get it chipping. I give them shit for it all the time but they ain't learning till one of them goes in.
 
All the reputable companies I sub for established their own in house two man minimum rule for chippers over a ten inch capacity.

Jomo
 
IIRC, chippers eat 300 people a year.

More like 75 fatalities to date since WTC's hit the market in the late 80's in the U.S. Butch.

300 sounds about right for yearly injuries involving wood chippers in general though.

Jomo
 
I'm wondering how the owner is claiming this kid was a sub-contractor. Either way that kid shouldn't have been near that machine unsupervised. This was a very easily prevented tragedy.
 
More like 75 fatalities to date since WTC's hit the market in the late 80's in the U.S. Butch.

I was meaning world wide... I wish I could remember where I read that cuz I burned it into my mind.

It was always a good thing to tell new groundies...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13
Thought vermeer's came with bottom stop bars? Reason I say that is all the larger BC series I have seen had a red bar at the leading edge of the feed table.
If yes, was it functioning?
If I find the OSHA report at a later date I will update this.

Lots of unanswered ?
 
A place I contract for has guys that are always putting their feet in the chippers cause they jam the thing so full they can get it chipping. I give them shit for it all the time but they ain't learning till one of them goes in.

I'd tell them that only the boss can push stuff in with their feet, and that its an unnecessary, dangerous distraction for me while climbing. F*&^ that noise.
 
Just for the record, absent someone witnessing Cox trying to kick a branch or log through the chipper firsthand?

This whole kicking business may be pure speculative BS?

I've witnessed how a 240 lb groundie gets knocked off his feet feeding a long euc branch into an 1800 and get dragged up onto the feed table by his leg, firsthand. Had the second groundie not been present and hit the safety bar just as his knee made contact with the feed wheels? The poor bloke would've been another fatality, rather than getting a few stitches to close the wound to his knee.

Jomo
 
It should be Jim. OSHA requires a harness in the bucket. They're about a hundred bucks for the cheap but meets standards ones.
 
This should be a lesson to all who call employees subcontractors........that guy will burn in court
 
When someone has safety gear and knows how to use it...and does not...cowboy, idiot, macho, ego...driving force is ego.

This young boy probably had no idea of what could really happen...they put him in a bad spot.
 
The only time solo hand fed chipping with a large chipper's acceptable IMO?

Is when the owner feeds the beast personally, confident they are magically immune from making mistakes when exhausted.

TCIA needs to step up to the plate and stop enabling tree service's like Crawford etc, etc.

You can bet your boots had 75 climbers met such grisly deaths hanging from cranes performing tree removals?

They'd move heaven n earth to put an end to it!

But walmart parking lot cheap labor temps?

They can get a few pointers, sign a piece paper, and go chip tangled piles with an 1800, and TCIA will just spit out another Dr. Ball chipper safety bulletin when they get chipped alive.

Jomo
 
Big shout out n props to the folks at Morbark for giving mistake prone treeworker's a second chance at continued life on the job!

http://youtu.be/wvawImLT_4o

Morbark and our network of authorized tree care dealers are committed to chipper operator safety and ongoing training. After several years of research, development and testing, we see the introduction of the patented ChipSafe® Operator Safety Shield as a true testament to this commitment.

Tree care workers must be diligent in adhering to safe operating practices when using a brush chipper. Such practices include never operating a chipper alone and always wearing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). In addition to the typical PPE items like head, eye, and ear protection, Morbark offers the award-winning ChipSafe Operator Safety Shield.

The ChipSafe is available as an option on new Morbark Beever M6R, M8D, M12D, M12R, M15RX, M15R, M18RX and M18R brush chippers.

http://www.morbark.com/equipment/chipsafe-operator-safety-shield/

Jomo
 
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