Log Falls Off Truck And Kills Timber Cutter

BACKGROUND: A timber cutter had finished his work for the day on a clear, cool spring afternoon in the Appalachians. While waiting for the logging company owner to arrive at the landing area, he apparently prepared to attach binders around a loaded log truck that was parked at the landing.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The 39-year old timber cutter was working as part of a four-man logging company. The company had no formal, written safety program or task-specific safety training program, but all crew members had completed their state’s logger safety training and education program. The timber cutter had only been cutting for this employer for 10 days. Although the cutter’s regular job did not include securing the binder chains on loaded trucks, he occasionally assisted. He was wearing a hard hat and chaps.

UNSAFE ACTS AND CONDITIONS: While the company owner was out of the loader and operating the skidder, the timber cutter approached the truck that had been previously loaded. The logs on the truck were loaded above the top of the standards, and no binders had been secured yet. It is unclear whether the victim tried to access or manipulate the load, but evidence suggests that he was either next to the truck or he was climbing onto the load to drape the chain over the top.

ACCIDENT: The logging company owner drove up to the landing area with his dozer/skidder, and he spotted the timber cutter lying face down in a fetal position next to the truck. Part of the chain was lying over his shoulder. A 12-inch diameter, 12-foot-long log had fallen off the truck and was lying within three feet of the timber cutter.

INJURY: The timber cutter had experienced massive blunt chest trauma as a result of being struck by the falling log. The company owner began administering CPR and yelled for help. EMS arrived and transported the timber cutter to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The coroner estimated the time from injury to death to be minutes.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION:

• Employers should ensure that the height of the stacked logs does not exceed the height of the standards on the log truck or trailer.
• Employers should ensure that stacked logs are secured immediately after loading the truck, to shorten employees’ exposure to potential log movement.
• Employers should develop, implement, and enforce a written safety program which includes task-specific safety procedures and worker training in hazard identification, avoidance, and control. In this incident, the victim was fatally injured when he approached an unsafe operation (the overloaded truck) and apparently committed an unsafe act (if he climbed on the load, to help secure it).
• Employers should designate a competent person to conduct frequent and regular site safety inspections.

Courtesy of the Forest Resources Association: forestresources.org

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