Incident
left hand cut with chainsaw
Date of incident
2021-01-12
Location of incident
Mar del Plata Buenos Aires Argentina
Age of impacted party
48
Outcome
Serious Injury
Type of incident
Cut body part
Type of equipment involved
Chainsaw
Type of injury
Cut/Laceration
Bodily injury to
Upper limb
Action taken
Offsite Medical Professional assistance
Involvement of contributor
Worker performing task
Weather
Sunny/mostly sunny
Causes of the incident
Training deficiency
Description of incident
It was in an acacia tree. We had lost a lot of time, so we decided to cut a very large branch in one go. I anticipated that the tree would shake a lot, so I decided to finish the cut with one hand and hold on to the main trunk with my left (my second mistake). The branch broke before the cut was complete and dragged me down with the ropes. In the jolt my left hand came loose and the chainsaw grazed me. I suffered the cut of the tendon and nerves of the middle finger, with a serious risk of losing it, and slight damage to the ring and little fingers
Contributing factors
Incident review and preventative measures
The main cause was the lack of proper training. Trying to cut such a large branch with a single cut was a serious mistake and using the chainsaw with one hand caused the total loss of control over the machine at the moment of the jolt, with the result that is visible
Form completed by (optional)
German Ignacio Lopez