Wood Chipper Death... alleged lack of Warning Signs

[5030]

I 'used' to own a large 3 point chipper. Sold it at a nice return and now I just roast the slash. Much easier and makes good ashes for the garden.

 

[jjp8182]

While looking to see what this "chipper" actually looks like (something tells me it's probably more like a large horizontal grinder rather than the "chipper" it's being described as) I stumbled across this:

Workplace Death Leads to Products Liability Lawsuit

The interesting thing is "According to the subsequent report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the worker had fallen into the chute of the wood chipper because he was not attached to the tether line. "

Which makes me wonder if this isn't another case of someone dying because the safety culture has become such that people don't think about their own safety since it's "someone else's responsibility" to point out potential dangers........ that and if this was a much older machine (especially since I can't seem to find out what one actually looks like - or who makes/made them).

 

[goeduck]

I 'used' to own a large 3 point chipper. Sold it at a nice return and now I just roast the slash. Much easier and makes good ashes for the garden.

I just burn it as well. Fun to do on a cold day.

 

[JamesHW]

We do not even bother burning, much less chipping, unless we want to have a celebratory bonfire. Just pile it up on an out of the way corner of the property and eventually it becomes soil. For chips I just have Chipdrop dump a few truckloads.

 

[CobyRupert]

I used to have a paperback on The Wood Chipper Murder. The husband convicted of the crime was in a halfway house when the Wikipedia article at the following link was written. Murder of Helle Crafts - Wikipedia

He bought a brand new chainsaw, used it once, then threw it in a lake!

I hope they gave him life!!

 

[oosik]

I had my property selectively logged 18 years ago. It left two VERY large piles of limbs. The next year I hooked up the Wally and head out to begin reducing these two piles to chips. I got to the first pile - a flock of about 30 quail flew out. There were twenty, or so, in the second pile.

I just left the two piles and they have been in constant use by the quail ever since.

 

[fruitcakesa]

I had my property selectively logged 18 years ago. It left two VERY large piles of limbs. The next year I hooked up the Wally and head out to begin reducing these two piles to chips. I got to the first pile - a flock of about 30 quail flew out. There were twenty, or so, in the second pile.

I just left the two piles and they have been in constant use by the quail ever since.

Call it habitat improvement

 

[Industrial Toys]

Burned a lot of brush for years, but it denies the ecosystem organic matter.

 

[Wagtail]

Burned a lot of brush for years, but it denies the ecosystem organic matter.

Maybe your particular ecosystem... here in Aus, it's added fuel-load for a bushfire.

Of course, our ecosystem is primarily eucalyptus.

 

[BlueKnife]

While looking to see what this "chipper" actually looks like (something tells me it's probably more like a large horizontal grinder rather than the "chipper" it's being described as)

Yeah, reporters are notoriously poor at getting those kinds of details correct. Williams doesn't even make anything called a "Hog Wood Chipper". It was probably something like this. which would explain the reason for a "tether line". You actually could "fall" into this, something that isn't really possible with a conventional chipper. One really has to wonder what sort of warning signs are needed on a machine like this. The potential dangers seem quite obvious.