Operator killed when bulldozer slides off logging road

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Program) (OR-FACE) ; Oregon Health & Science University. Oregon Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET)
• Description:
  On September 6, 2003, a 75-year-old logger, working as a bulldozer operator, was killed when the D6H Caterpillar crawler tractor he was operating tumbled off a steep skid road into a ravine. The operator was climbing a 20-25 degree slope while reopening an old skid road. The bulldozer slid off of the road against a tree while on a hard rock face covered by a 4-inch surface of scrabble rock. The operator apparently regained control, and may have been trying to get the bulldozer back up on the road when it slipped off the 60-70 degree sidehill and tumbled about 150 ft to a logging road, where the operator was ejected. The bulldozer bounced another 450 ft into a ravine. The event was not witnessed. Fatal injuries probably occurred when the victim was thrown around in the cab, before being ejected. Recommendations: 1. Develop a site-specific safety plan that includes an assessment of hazards and plans to minimize the risks. 2. When operating off-road work machines, wear the seatbelt, or utilize some other form of personal safety restraint. 3. Seek assistance when needed. 4. Drop the blade to help control or stop a slide. 5. Manufacturers should evaluate operator restraint systems for mobile equipment to design improvements that facilitate use of seatbelts and harnesses.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Forestry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Equipment-design Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention Logging-workers OSHA Region 10 Safety-belts Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-practices Traumatic-injuries Work-operations

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Logging ; Machine (All) ; Machine - General
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE03OR029
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029469
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-105509
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 03OR029, 2006 Jan ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Department of Human Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2002/09/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1708f1ad48118e6601fa93235a6143a18370fb070cc3308ce63eb476a10e815dbb5ddefa444da73419770b1c65eba7ba6baf5475958a7242952be8869e8e94dc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166361/cdc_166361_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 219.15 KB ]