Post by takilasunrise on Aug 17, 2006 15:02:27 GMT -5
If you have a weak stomach, do NOT read this article!!!! 
Tuesday, a tragic accident happened in our city. He was an acquaintance of my brother. It's unbelievable...........
"Deadly accident stuns family
OSHA to investigate whether wood chipper malfunctioned.....
Jeremiah P. Sanders started a lawn care business when he was 14.
He was a father, a duck hunter and a giant of a man who loved his family with every inch of his 6-foot 8-inch frame.
Those were the memories his parents and 11 siblings shared Wednesday.
Sanders, 30, was pulled into a wood chipper late Tuesday afternoon while shredding brush in the 8900 block of 26th Avenue in Pleasant Prairie. He died at the scene.
“I don’t know who threw a log up there, but he was pushing the log with his foot,” said Adam Sanders, a nephew who was with Sanders at the time. “It seemed like forever but, just by chip and brush experience, I know it probably took about seven seconds.”
Adam Sanders said he and two employees of another tree care business weren’t scheduled to be at Jeremiah’s job site.
They had finished another job at about 2:30 p.m., and rather than quit early, Adam called his uncle to see if he needed anything.
Sanders, owner of J’s Quality Tree Service, was glad for the help.
“He was just trying to get his business going,” said Toby Sanders, another nephew who was not on scene when the accident happened.
“He had so much work. He had work scheduled all the way through fall.”Sanders was the son of Marlene and William Sanders Sr.
The man who loaned the Morbark chipper to Sanders said the equipment was working properly. Specifically, he said a safety reverse bar was working; if someone or something gets pulled into the machine, the bar is meant to reverse the wheels and push the object out to avoid the churning blades.
“I know it was fine,” he said. “It was working. We had it working the day before.”
But Sanders family members and other wood service workers familiar with the equipment Wednesday questioned that assessment.
“The reverse bar was busted,” brother Randy Sanders said. “That’s why he’s dead. He should have never been pushing with his foot. But if the bar was working, it would have maybe been a broken ankle.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, said Chris Zortman, assistant area director for the OSHA office in Milwaukee.
Zortman said investigators will examine the wood chipper.
It was unclear how long the investigation could take. By law, Zortman said, investigators have up to six months to review the case.
Many of Jeremiah Sanders’ siblings said that while they would like to know if the machine malfunctioned, they were more concerned about overall safety among tree workers.
Randy Sanders, 46, said he saw a similar accident in Florida about seven years ago.
When he worked last year with his brother, Randy said, he warned him about the dangers.
On Wednesday, Jeremiah’s brothers and sisters opened a trust fund for his daughters — Skylar, 4, and Selena, 7 — and another child on the way. Skylar’s mother, Amanda Herman, is about six weeks pregnant."
www.kenoshanews.com/articles/index.php?articleNum=7435
**He was pulled completely through. His nephew told my brother's good friend that they held on to him up to his waist then they let go and turned around because he couldn't watch it anymore. He said it's a sound he hopes to never experience again in his life. What an image to be burned into your mind the rest of your life!
Tuesday, a tragic accident happened in our city. He was an acquaintance of my brother. It's unbelievable...........
"Deadly accident stuns family
OSHA to investigate whether wood chipper malfunctioned.....
Jeremiah P. Sanders started a lawn care business when he was 14.
He was a father, a duck hunter and a giant of a man who loved his family with every inch of his 6-foot 8-inch frame.
Those were the memories his parents and 11 siblings shared Wednesday.
Sanders, 30, was pulled into a wood chipper late Tuesday afternoon while shredding brush in the 8900 block of 26th Avenue in Pleasant Prairie. He died at the scene.
“I don’t know who threw a log up there, but he was pushing the log with his foot,” said Adam Sanders, a nephew who was with Sanders at the time. “It seemed like forever but, just by chip and brush experience, I know it probably took about seven seconds.”
Adam Sanders said he and two employees of another tree care business weren’t scheduled to be at Jeremiah’s job site.
They had finished another job at about 2:30 p.m., and rather than quit early, Adam called his uncle to see if he needed anything.
Sanders, owner of J’s Quality Tree Service, was glad for the help.
“He was just trying to get his business going,” said Toby Sanders, another nephew who was not on scene when the accident happened.
“He had so much work. He had work scheduled all the way through fall.”Sanders was the son of Marlene and William Sanders Sr.
The man who loaned the Morbark chipper to Sanders said the equipment was working properly. Specifically, he said a safety reverse bar was working; if someone or something gets pulled into the machine, the bar is meant to reverse the wheels and push the object out to avoid the churning blades.
“I know it was fine,” he said. “It was working. We had it working the day before.”
But Sanders family members and other wood service workers familiar with the equipment Wednesday questioned that assessment.
“The reverse bar was busted,” brother Randy Sanders said. “That’s why he’s dead. He should have never been pushing with his foot. But if the bar was working, it would have maybe been a broken ankle.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, said Chris Zortman, assistant area director for the OSHA office in Milwaukee.
Zortman said investigators will examine the wood chipper.
It was unclear how long the investigation could take. By law, Zortman said, investigators have up to six months to review the case.
Many of Jeremiah Sanders’ siblings said that while they would like to know if the machine malfunctioned, they were more concerned about overall safety among tree workers.
Randy Sanders, 46, said he saw a similar accident in Florida about seven years ago.
When he worked last year with his brother, Randy said, he warned him about the dangers.
On Wednesday, Jeremiah’s brothers and sisters opened a trust fund for his daughters — Skylar, 4, and Selena, 7 — and another child on the way. Skylar’s mother, Amanda Herman, is about six weeks pregnant."
www.kenoshanews.com/articles/index.php?articleNum=7435
**He was pulled completely through. His nephew told my brother's good friend that they held on to him up to his waist then they let go and turned around because he couldn't watch it anymore. He said it's a sound he hopes to never experience again in his life. What an image to be burned into your mind the rest of your life!
