Travis Travis.ShorelineWa wrote:

There was a sad story in the local paper yesterday about a employee of a
tree-trimming firm who died on the job. He was cutting a tree; the tree
fell and hit a stump, and the bottom of the tree "kicked up" and struck
him
in the head. There's an investigation underway, but it looks like it was
just a terrible accident, not negligence.

There might not be negligence but it wasn't "just a terrible accident"
either.

Really now?

Really.
You can make all the excuses for him that you want but as a
professional he didn't act very professionally.

You say a tree hitting a stump means a tree faller is not professional.
That is a strange conclusion. First, tree fallers don't claim to be
professionals. Second, as skilled tradesmen, they can never be sure how
a tree is going to react when it comes down. Tons of force are at play
with a large amount of uncertainty. Sometimes their escape path becomes
blocked before they can reach safety. Sometimes there is internal rot
that weakens the holding wood they were counting on to direct the fall.
Sometimes a gust of wind changes all of their plans. It is by no means
an exact science.