# I never knew wood chippers were this dangerous. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409 "2012-04-10T21:34:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/61 "2012-04-12T07:23:27Z")
I think he should only be punished if he lets another child get pulled through the woodchipper. I’m kinda serious. What he did was perhaps careless, maybe reckless, but mostly terribly unlucky. Nearly everyone has “wow, I nearly died/killed someone there” moments where in retrospect, we realise we were playing with more risk than we really should, but in most cases, the bullet whistles past and we just have an interesting story about how disaster _nearly happened_. For this guy and his child, it just unfortunately didn’t work out that way this time. Punishing him won’t bring the child back. He’s already ‘reformed’, I expect - in that he’s unlikely to let this happen again. Even if it could be argued to be effective. to make an example of him to deter others, is it actually necessary? If none of the above, then what is the purpose of punishment? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/62 "2012-04-12T11:10:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think he should only be punished if he lets another child get pulled through the woodchipper. what, you’re supposing he might invite daycares to bring their charges around for a demo? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/63 "2012-04-12T12:27:46Z")
Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/64 "2012-04-12T12:46:01Z")
Given the line of work this poor guy is in, how could he ever work around another wood chipper ever again? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/65 "2012-04-12T12:55:38Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > Hell. I’m 35 and you still won’t find me within three feet of an active PTO. No thank you. Is [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor#Power_take-off_systems_and_hydraulics) what a PTO is? edit: [Here’s an article](http://www.mase.pro/2009FC32.htm) on the hazards of PTOs. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/66 "2012-04-12T13:45:51Z")
Gotta say I find it hard to believe there are people wanting the father charged. It was an _accident_. A terrible, gruesome, bone-chilling, horrifying accident. Irresponsible? Truly? How do we know that that poor dad hadn’t told his six-year-old to stay right back from the chipper a thousand times? How do we know that that little kid wasn’t one who’d always been so well-behaved, so obedient, such “a good kid” every day of his life; and at that awful moment, wanted to “surprise” his dad by “helping.” That young boy was more likely to have been killed in a car accident, choked on a hotdog, drowned, poisoned, or burned to death than to have died in the way that he did. Honestly. A bit of compassion. Nobody was there - we know nothing but the tragic full stop of an entire story we’ll never know. I think of that moment through the eyes of that dad whose day had started just like any other. Blood pounds in my ears and my breath almost stops. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/67 "2012-04-12T14:13:56Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Ha, I laughed. > > Seriously though, don’t you think we should punish people who can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that they acted negligently towards the care of a child? I assume you’d want to prosecute someone who left their baby in a car on a summer day, or left their infant in the sink/tub to answer the phone only to come back and find them drowned, or something similar. While I admit that this wood chipper case isn’t nearly as clear-cut, it must at least be considered to be in the realm of possible negligence. Especially since this man was supposedly a professional who brought his son to work with him. No, I wouldn’t want any of those people prosecuted. A genuinely loving parent slips in their attention for one moment and the baby dies…they’ve been punished enough. As other people imply, it’s not as though they have a habit of doing this! Punishment should be for prevention and for reformation, not just because we as a society like to kick people when they are already broken. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/68 "2012-04-12T14:17:23Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Irresponsible? Truly? Yes. This father brought his son along to work when he knew he would be working with dangerous machinery. You’d think it would be a basic safety practice to keep nonessential personnel, especially children and people not trained in how to use a wood chipper, away from a wood chipper when it is running. Now, if a 6-year-old from the neighborhood had wandered in and decided to try out the wood chipper and gotten pulled into it, I wouldn’t say this guy was irresponsible. I would agree it was a tragic accident in that case. But this guy chose to bring a 6-year-old child to a place where he knew he would be using dangerous machinery. That’s the bit where he was irresponsible. He _did_ have other choices. He could have left the child home by himself. He could have arranged for someone else to care for the child. He could have rescheduled the job involving the wood chipper to a day when he had child care arranged. I don’t necessarily think he should be charged with anything. I’m not sure there’s any penalty worse than what has already happened that society could impose on him. But we should be clear that bringing your children to work when you work with dangerous machinery is not something anyone should ever do. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/69 "2012-04-12T14:37:55Z")
i only have read a few written accounts. so i may have missed or not seen details. even if the dad said ‘don’t help’ or ‘stand no closer’ doesn’t mean that is what the kid did. kids want to help, they often will jump into helping spontaneously even if you told them it isn’t needed previously. the kid sees an adult feed the chipper without much effort and thinks that it will be the same for them (not accounting for strength and size difference using kid level reasoning). kids need multiple warnings, and not just warnings they need WARNINGS. they naturally underestimate dangers and overestimate their abilities. if the dad asked for the kid to ‘help’ then to do so without watching and being within arms reach was a huge mistake. even if the dad did that there is a danger that when the dad isn’t watching then the kid might more easily tend to spontaneously help in an unsafe manner. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/70 "2012-04-12T14:42:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I once saw a one armed man feeding branches into a wood chipper. It’s sad, and it’s cruel that I can’t help but grin a little thinking about it. Stop it! :D:D ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/71 "2012-04-12T14:44:53Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > He _did_ have other choices. He could have left the child home by himself. He could have arranged for someone else to care for the child. He could have rescheduled the job involving the wood chipper to a day when he had child care arranged. Oh yes. With all these ‘other choices’ you somehow _know_ he had, you also know that: had he left the six-year-old at home by himself (and how you don’t see _this_ as entirely irresponsible is mind-boggling to me. However…) an electrical fire wouldn’t have set the house alight and killed him; that the last-minute child minder wouldn’t have let him ride his bike to the corner and he’d have been the wiped out in a police chase; that the holiday care centre the boy was in on the rescheduled job day didn’t have a crazed gunman turn up and massacre the lot of 'em. Each one an unfortunate, unforeseen scenario that would have made the news, and had someone cry out, “How irresponsible!” Honestly. Parents protect their children the best way they can. Give the guy a fucking break. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/72 "2012-04-12T14:46:34Z")
I think people are pretty sick who want to charge somebody who have something like this happen to them. Sure, the guy was a screwup, but, I think he’s more than paid for it, it definitely won’t happen again…no more cause for the government to harass him. He’s got a funeral to think of. And more. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/73 "2012-04-12T14:49:58Z")
I once laughed guiltily when I saw a one armed man playing peekaboo :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/74 "2012-04-12T14:57:06Z")
We had a large number of trees cut down a couple of years ago. The crew never left the wood chipper running when they weren’t feeding it. They had an on/off switch at the feed end and turned it off if they were going to be out of reach of the switch for even a moment. If anyone dared to come within their field of vision they turned it off. Safety was first. Getting the job done came second. If they couldn’t do something safely they wouldn’t do it. I don’t think the father should be prosecuted but he should never be allowed to operate such machinery again (not that he’ll want to anyway). It is obvious that a six-year-old should not be unrestrained within 100 yards of a wood chipper. I would bet that the kids weren’t wearing hearing protection either. That alone is negligent (though, again, I wouldn’t prosecute him for it). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/75 "2012-04-12T15:00:13Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Oh yes. With all these ‘other choices’ you somehow _know_ he had, you also know that: > > had he left the six-year-old at home by himself (and how you don’t see _this_ as entirely irresponsible is mind-boggling to me. However…) an electrical fire wouldn’t have set the house alight and killed him; > > that the last-minute child minder wouldn’t have let him ride his bike to the corner and he’d have been the wiped out in a police chase; > > that the holiday care centre the boy was in on the rescheduled job day didn’t have a crazed gunman turn up and massacre the lot of 'em. > > Each one an unfortunate, unforeseen scenario that would have made the news, and had someone cry out, “How irresponsible!” > > Honestly. Parents protect their children the best way they can. Give the guy a fucking break. Sorry, but letting your 6 year old within 50 ft of an active wood chipper without physically restraining him from getting closer is a whole different animal than all the cases you mentioned. It’s a level of risk that’s utterly irresponsible, even if nothing had happened. The combination of dangerous machinery and very fast bad result means that a responsible parent wouldn’t have even let his kid into that situation. It’s not the kind of thing where you can trust a 6 year old to take any responsibility for their own safety, regardless of how strongly you warned them. It’s where a parent must step in and say, “No, this situation is not permissable”. Do I feel terrible for the guy? Of course. But I’m not going to let him off the hook for being completely irresponsible and completely at fault for what happened to his son. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/76 "2012-04-12T15:04:33Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Do I feel terrible for the guy? Of course. But I’m not going to let him off the hook for being completely irresponsible and completely at fault for what happened to his son. How do you know he was completely at fault for this incident? Are there details about how this occured, or are you just assuming he wasn’t paying attention or taking reasonable precautions? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/77 "2012-04-12T15:13:05Z")
Ok, here’s how he would not have been completely at fault – someone else came along and threw his son into the wood chipper. Otherwise, he brought his son to a dangerous work site, where the son shouldn’t have been at all, and supervised his son inadequately enough that he went through a wood chipper. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/78 "2012-04-12T15:15:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > How do you know he was completely at fault for this incident? Are there details about how this occured, or are you just assuming he wasn’t paying attention or taking reasonable precautions? From the article linked in the **OP** : > [@](#): > > The boy, identified as Jeffrey Bourgeois, and two older siblings were helping their father clear brush from a yard at 24 Brookside Road at the time of the incident, said State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance. The father had his back turned, and when the boy tried to assist his father by putting a branch into the chipper, he was sucked into the machine, Vance said. If that’s true, that the only people present were the father and his 3 school aged kids and no other adults, and the 6 year old was assisting in any way, shape, or form instead of being in an area where he physically could not get near the chipper, then yes, it’s the father’s fault. He allowed an incredibly dangerous situation to occur. Here’s another [article](http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x898663096/Salem-child-dies-police-investigate-reports-of-wood-chipper-involved#axzz1rq5vHQTE) which states that the 2 other siblings were in the same (elementary) school, so I’d say that making one of them responsible for the 6 year old’s safety would have been an irresponsible act as well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/79 "2012-04-12T15:27:51Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > From the article linked in the **OP** : > > If that’s true, that the only people present were the father and his 3 school aged kids and no other adults, and the 6 year old was assisting in any way, shape, or form instead of being in an area where he physically could not get near the chipper, then yes, it’s the father’s fault. He allowed an incredibly dangerous situation to occur. > > Here’s another [article](http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x898663096/Salem-child-dies-police-investigate-reports-of-wood-chipper-involved#axzz1rq5vHQTE) which states that the 2 other siblings were in the same (elementary) school, so I’d say that making one of them responsible for the 6 year old’s safety would have been an irresponsible act as well. Ok, the father was being irresponsible. I still wouldn’t recommend prosecution. The justice system is too over-worked already to start taking on every case of stupidity. And I don’t see how the prosecution furthers the interest of justice. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409/80 "2012-04-12T15:28:23Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > had he left the six-year-old at home by himself (and how you don’t see _this_ as entirely irresponsible is mind-boggling to me. However…) an electrical fire wouldn’t have set the house alight and killed him; It would be irresponsible to leave a 6-year-old home alone. However, it would be **less** irresponsible than bringing your kid to work when you’re working with dangerous machinery. > [@](#): > > that the last-minute child minder wouldn’t have let him ride his bike to the corner and he’d have been the wiped out in a police chase; > > that the holiday care centre the boy was in on the rescheduled job day didn’t have a crazed gunman turn up and massacre the lot of 'em. These two _would_ be unfortunate, unforeseen scenarios. > [@](#): > > Honestly. Parents protect their children the best way they can. Not all of them do. We wouldn’t need laws against child neglect if all parents did this. > [@Gus Gusterson](#): > > We had a large number of trees cut down a couple of years ago. The crew never left the wood chipper running when they weren’t feeding it. They had an on/off switch at the feed end and turned it off if they were going to be out of reach of the switch for even a moment. If anyone dared to come within their field of vision they turned it off. Safety was first. Getting the job done came second. If they couldn’t do something safely they wouldn’t do it. _This_ is how responsible people use a wood chipper. I’d bet they didn’t have anyone under the age of ten on their crew, either. > [@](#): > > The boy, identified as Jeffrey Bourgeois, and two older siblings were helping their father clear brush from a yard at 24 Brookside Road at the time of the incident This guy is probably in violation of some child labor laws in Connecticut for having his children help him with the wood chipper. I’d be in favor of prosecuting him for that, because that might protect his other children from having something like this happen to them. We have laws against employing children to work with dangerous machinery for a _reason_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-knew-wood-chippers-were-this-dangerous/618409.md?page=5)