Logger killed while felling tree -- Alaska

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beller, Michael ; Choromanski, Deborah
• Corporate Authors:
  Alaska Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (Alaska FACE) ; Alaska. Division of Public Health. Section of Epidemiology. Occupational Injury Prevention Program
• Description:
  A logger was killed when the trunk of the tree he was felling (cutting) struck his head. The victim was part of a two-man crew cutting trees separately on a steep hillside. After clearing an intended fall area and an escape route of brush and saplings, the victim made a series of standard cuts to fell the tree. The tree twisted on its stump, causing it to fall differently than the intended position and to strike the side of an uphill stump. The tree rebounded and struck the victim as the butt of the trunk descended and swung toward him as it continued to slip to the side of the stump. His cutting partner (the witness) notified an emergency medical technician who administered CPR. The victim remained unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene. Based on the findings of the investigation, to prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. ensure that all cutters examine the tree before making a cut and inspect the chainsaw shavings or the wood wedge from the undercut for any signs of rot which could influence the tree's fall when finishing the cut
  
  2. re-enforce the use of wedges to help control the fall of the tree
  
  3. consider eliminating the use of a "swing cut" when defective timber is present and an adequate distance for the escape route is unavailable.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Forestry Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Forestry-workers Injuries Injury-prevention Logging-workers Lumber-industry Lumber-industry-workers Lumberjacks Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-practices Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-environment Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Logging
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE97AK023
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026905
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2011-101400
• 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 97AK023, 1997 Aug ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Performing Organization:
  Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:129c6e94dad31edec765f43975d8155437fb753a91d99b5282a577833ca3e6b95400eb24d82afb49188617ad37e52aedd5e693a9cb79ef590a8527101983193f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169108/cdc_169108_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 28.32 KB ]