Logging Safety

BACKGROUND: A shortwood pulpwood producer stopped to repair the two-speed axle on his truck prior to driving to the woodyard. The producer was salvaging dead pines on an isolated tract on a mild fall day in the South. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The 63-year old driver...

BACKGROUND: A contracted log truck driver left early one morning from a log deck. Driving conditions were dry and clear. The driver's truck was hauling tree-length pine on a four-bunk trailer. The trailer was loaded with pine pulpwood from a second thinning operation,...

BACKGROUND: A chain saw operator was felling timber in the South around noon on a clear day in May. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The chain saw operator was 40 years old, was fully trained, and had been with the logging company for one year. He had had no previous...

BACKGROUND: At a Pacific Northwest mill, a seriously overweight chip truck, with a crowned load, was being elevated on a dumper. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The chip truck driver had eight years of experience hauling chip loads. UNSAFE ACT OR CONDITION: A malfunction of...

BACKGROUND: At a Pacific Northwest mill, a chip truck tractor was about to be detached from its trailer so the trailer could be tipped at the chip dump. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The chip truck driver had 10 years of experience and was considered fully trained, both...

BACKGROUND: A Lake States logging company was pre-hauling wood out to an all-weather landing where, in inclement weather, their truckers could haul the wood easily out of the woods and to the mill. It was autumn and the crew was expecting the fall rains to start soon....