23-year-old dies grinding cut tree
The Enterprise — Michael Koff
A large stump along with tree trunks and branches remained in the yard at 215 Placid Drive in Guilderland Wednesday evening. Hours earlier, a man died when he became entangled in a tree-grinding machine.
GUILDERLAND — A 23-year-old man became entangled in a tree-grinding machine early Wednesday afternoon, according to Guilderland Police.
Town emergency services got a call at about 1:15 p.m.; the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
At press time, police were not releasing his name as the matter was under investigation.
Assistant Chief Curtis Cox said, on Wednesday afternoon, police did not yet know how the accident happened.
The man had worked for Countryside Tree Service, at 7084 Fuller Road in Guilderland; the company was hired to remove large trees in front of 215 Placid Drive in Guilderland.
Cox said that, as children were being dismissed from school, their bus was stopped at the head of the road. Police escorted them to their homes after putting up a barrier so that the tree-grinding machine and the body were not visible.
According to Albany County assessment rolls, the property at 215 Placid Drive belongs to Diane M. and Rocco L. Peluso III and has a full market value of $386,364. No one answered the phone at the Peluso home on Wednesday evening.
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control, “Workers in various industries and occupations are involved in the care and maintenance of trees, such as tree trimming, pruning, and removal. This work is recognized as having many safety hazards.”
The CDC report analyzed data from 1992 to 2007, the most recent year for which data was available, and found a total of 1,285 workers died during that period while performing tree care: 44 percent were trimming or pruning a tree when fatally injured. The most common causes of death, accounting for 42 percent of the deaths, were being struck by an object, like a tree branch, followed by falls to a lower level, at 34 percent, and electrocution, 14 percent.
Most of those who died, 57 percent, worked for small establishments with 10 or fewer employees.
The report says that 44 percent of the deaths happened during work at a private residence. It also says that 7 percent of the deaths were caused by machinery — with 3 percent, or 38 deaths, caused by chippers.
Finally, the Centers for Disease Control report says that the number of deaths reported to be associated with tree care probably is undercounted because of a reliance on inconsistent information.
— Melissa Hale-Spencer and Elizabeth Floyd Mair
