Logging Injury Alert: Chaser Caught in Choker Bight

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 30-year-old chaser was severely injured when his leg was caught in the bight, or loop, of a choker and the line went taut. The experienced chaser, who had worked for his employer for seven years, was working at a landing where tree-length logs were being yarded. The site consisted of a tower yarder utilizing a standing skyline with a drop-line motorized carriage. A processor was on the landing processing and stacking logs and keeping the landing chute clear. The landing was slightly sloped and large enough to land most turns. But some turns consisting of a single tree-length log (as long as 140 feet) needed to be secured from sliding downhill. The crew was aware of the hazard of longer logs sliding away at the landing and developed a method of preventing this. These turns were held in place by the yarder operator while the processor grabbed the log and laid it down on the landing, so that the chaser could unhook the choker. The crew had successfully brought in numerous turns using this method. Turns that consisted of shorter logs that the crew determined to be not at risk of sliding away were deposited at the landing where the chaser would unhook the chokers without the aid of the processor stabilizing the log. When a turn consisting of two shorter logs and one longer log was brought to the landing, the chaser went to release the chokers of the two shorter logs. The chaser believed the turn to be stable and secure from movement. As the chaser approached the turn, the longer log began to slide downhill, as it did so it tightened up the chokers on the shorter logs and dragged them along. The chaser's lower right leg was caught in the bight, or loop, of a choker as it tightened up. He was dragged several feet and then lifted about 10 feet off the ground where he dangled upside-down for about 10-20 seconds before the yarder operator was able to lower him to the ground. Due to the compression of the choker around his leg, he suffered a severe crush injury requiring surgery and rehabilitation treatment. Nearly a year after his injury he had not fully recovered enough to be able to return to his job. Safety Requirements: Logs must be stable and secure before being approached by employees and before chokers are unhooked. See WAC 296-54-577(10). Recommended Safe Practices: Do not move in to unhook chokers until you have made eye contact with the yarder operator and the operator signals it is safe to do so. If a turn is unstable, stay in the clear and signal a machine operator to reposition the unstable log(s). The rigging slinger should determine whether it is safe to send a turn to the landing. In this incident it would have been safer to send a turn with the two shorter logs and then another turn with the longer log. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Forestry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Equipment Operation Forestry Workers Injuries Logging Industry Logging Workers Machine Safety Safety Practices
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060989
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 92-10-2014, 2014 Jul; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Logging injury alert: chaser caught in choker bight
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9004d1b354c61d0de3690ff723ba5ce81e64dabcc8fe24eda2d5801c38c9e9faea026de1a58418af80accd4db4918198a5f1e97852f5d04b741a21e0557d7d98
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224701/cdc_224701_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 407.02 KB ]