A AND S TREE SERVICE, LLC

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, A AND S TREE SERVICE, LLC — a logging facility located at 222 SWEET GRAPE RUN, WALTON, WV 25286 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 17 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $20,100.00. The inspection case was opened on 2015-10-06.

Federal investigators determined that one or more violations at this facility were committed willfully — meaning the employer either knowingly failed to comply with OSHA standards or acted with plain indifference to employee safety. Willful violations carry the highest penalty multipliers under the OSH Act.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 5.2 per 100 full-time workers — 93% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 20.1 per 100,000 workers.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $20,100.00 is more than 6.9× the national average of $2,920.96 for facilities in the Agriculture sector (NAICS 113310). This sector encompasses 23,483 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $68.6M.

State Context: Within WV, this facility's penalty places it at the 98th percentile among 14,536 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,060.20.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 17 citations spanning 1 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 12 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 1 willful — The employer intentionally and knowingly committed the violation, demonstrating either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the OSH Act or plain indifference to employee safety and health. 2 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning January 6, 2016 with the latest abatement deadline set for February 2, 2016. Of the 17 total citations, 0 (0%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $20,100.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $1,182.35 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement profile for A and S Tree Service, LLC reveals a catastrophic breakdown of safety management systems within a high-hazard logging environment. The presence of seventeen citations, dominated by Serious and Willful designations, points to a systemic failure rather than isolated negligence. Specifically, the recurring violations of 29 CFR 1910.266 indicate that the employer neglected fundamental felling techniques, chainsaw safety, and environmental hazard assessments. For workers, this lack of compliance meant operating in an environment where "danger trees" were not properly managed and felling procedures lacked the required undercuts and backcuts necessary to control the direction of a fall, exponentially increasing the risk of "struck-by"