Workplace safety officials in California are investigating a fatal accident of a tree trimmer from Northern California. The man, 50, was a resident of the small town of Applegate, working in Nevada City with his trimming crew. The crew was clearing a hilly area about 50 miles from Sacramento. The victim was a tree trimmer operating a portable wood chipper at the time of the accident.

This routine job left the wood chipper worker dead and family members reeling. The accident occurred while the victim was chipping wood cleared from the hillside. Other workers were gathering brush and other materials, tied together with rope, to take to the wood chipper for processing. This is a routine activity for the trimmers, performed in no different of a way than usual.

This routine workday took a turn for the worse when a rope got wound around the wood chippers neck, leading to his decapitation. The tightness of the rope that inadvertently got wrapped around his neck is what led to his death. It is not clear how the rope ended up around the victim's neck. Investigators are indicating that this was an accident and not the result of faulty equipment. This tragic accident is still pending an outside investigation to help determine whether or not the equipment being used was in any way responsible for the death of the victim. Results of this investigation will be revealed upon completion. The victim is survived by a wife and two older children.

Reuters, "Man decapitated in wood chipper accident, coroner says," Emett Berg, Jan. 13, 2012