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TRUCK DRIVER TWISTS KNEE IN WOODYARD

TRUCK DRIVER TWISTS KNEE IN WOODYARD

BACKGROUND: On a winter evening at a Pacific Northwest mill, a chip truck driver, while collecting a load under a bunker, was walking from the cab to the trailer. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The chip truck driver had only five weeks’ experience on this particular...
PARTIALLY CUT TREE LEFT STANDING

PARTIALLY CUT TREE LEFT STANDING

BACKGROUND: A chain saw operator and a skidder operator were working close together during the mid-morning hours on a clear, windy day in the summer. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The skidder operator was considered to be fully trained with 20 years of work experience and...

MECHANIC FALLS FROM SKIDDER

BACKGROUND: It was lightly raining on a mid-March day just before noon. A contractor’s employees were using a skidder to remove a hardwood log from a loaded log truck. A mechanic had been operating the winch of the skidder and began to exit the cab. PERSONAL...
Log Truck Nearly Collides With Helicopter

Log Truck Nearly Collides With Helicopter

BACKGROUND: A helicopter drip-torch burning operation was set up in a wide turnout of a main logging road in the Inland West. The operation included a fuel truck, a batch truck, and the supporting ground crew. The weather was clear with good visibility. The incident...
Jeep Collides With Loaded Log Truck

Jeep Collides With Loaded Log Truck

BACKGROUND: A tractor-trailer unit loaded with logs was headed northbound and approaching a highway junction when the driver noticed a Jeep traveling westbound toward the same intersection. It was late afternoon on a cold, sunny winter day in the Rocky Mountain West....
In-Cab Jolt Paralyzes Skidder Operator

In-Cab Jolt Paralyzes Skidder Operator

BACKGROUND: A grapple skidder operator was skidding timber from the woods to the landing one day in the South. Weather was not a factor in the accident. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The logger was 37 years old and in good health. He had been employed by his company for...