Seriously Injured When Arborist Climbing Equipment Failed?
Professional arborists and tree-service workers routinely depend on climbing equipment at significant heights.
A climbing rope, splice, saddle, harness, lanyard, carabiner, ascender, connector, or other life-safety component must perform reliably when it is loaded.
When that equipment physically fails, the resulting fall can cause catastrophic injury.
Miller Monroe Holton & Plyler investigates serious product-liability claims involving failed arborist and tree-climbing equipment.
Equipment We Investigate
- Arborist climbing ropes
- Spliced rope terminations
- Climbing saddles
- Harnesses
- Lanyards
- Positioning systems
- Carabiners
- Connectors
- Ascenders
- Descenders
- Mechanical climbing devices
- Anchors
- Rigging components when their failure causes bodily injury
- Other equipment used to protect a climber working at elevation
Warning Signs of a Potential Product Failure
A product investigation may be warranted when:
- A rope broke
- A manufactured splice pulled apart
- A sewn termination failed
- A carabiner opened unexpectedly
- A harness component released
- A buckle or D-ring failed
- A lanyard separated
- A mechanical climbing device malfunctioned
- An anchor or connector physically broke
Workers’ Compensation May Not Be the Only Issue
A person injured while working may have workers’ compensation rights.
When a product manufactured or sold by an outside company fails, there may also be questions concerning responsibility of the manufacturer, importer, distributor, or seller.
Whether a separate claim exists depends on the particular facts.
Preserve the Equipment Before Anyone Tests It
Do not allow failed climbing equipment to be discarded, returned, repaired, destructively tested, or altered before it can be appropriately documented and preserved.
If the employer possesses the equipment, identify who has custody of it and ask that it be preserved.
Serious Arborist Fall?
If you suffered a serious injury after climbing or fall-protection equipment physically failed, contact Miller Monroe Holton & Plyler.