City Considers Requiring Comp for Tree Trimmers Following Deadly Accident

Thursday, August 29, 2019 | 0

City leaders in Casper are considering a proposal to require arborists to have workers’ compensation insurance in order to receive a license after a man was killed in a tree-trimming accident, according to a report by Oil City News.

The daughter of the man who died Tuesday said people knocked on the door of her 89-year-old father’s house, saying they could cut down his cottonwood trees. The man was watching the tree-trimming work when he was killed. The daughter said professional tree trimmers would not have allowed someone to stand so close to where they were working.

City Manager Carter Napier said those cutting down the tree were not in violation of Casper’s ordinances. But the city is considering new licensing requirements that would include additional training and raising mandatory liability insurance coverage to $1 million from $100,000. The proposal would also require arborists to have workers’ compensation coverage.

The proposal would also make it a misdemeanor for arborists to work without a city permit.