BACKGROUND: A logger was “hot” bucking logs on a landing as tree-length pulp was being loaded onto a truck for hauling. It was about noon on a clear November day.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The logger had several years of experience and worked for a contractor who employed seven hand crews. The logger had no formal safety training but was wearing all the appropriate personal protective equipment except safety boots. The man operating the loader was actually the truck driver and was not an employee of the contractor.
UNSAFE ACT OR CONDITIONS: The logger was kneeling down filing his chain saw between the truck and the loader during the loading operation.
ACCIDENT: A 16-foot beech log, approximately 19 inches on the butt end, rolled through the stakes on the trailer and struck the logger kneeling next to the loader. The loader operator never saw the employee get hit and picked up the log and set it back on the trailer. An eyewitness saw the accident and yelled out to the loader operator to stop.
INJURIES: The logger died instantly from severe head and neck injuries.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION: The logger bucking the logs should have been on the opposite side of the loader and within eyesight of the loader operator at all times. It is unknown why the logger was sharpening his chain saw in one of the most dangerous locations on an active log yard. Normally, a logger bucking on the yard works from the opposite side and remains in clear view of the loader operator at all times. A formal safety orientation and training program, such as OSHA requires for all logging employees, might have prevented this kind of bad judgment.
When a loader is operating on the yard, ground personnel should stay a safe distance from the boom and any wood extending from the bucket. To the extent possible, personnel on the ground should stay within sight of the loader operator. At no time should a person be beneath or adjacent to an operating loader or the trailer being loaded.
Courtesy of the Forest Resources Association: https://www.forestresources.org/