The Forestry Forum

Health and Safety => Health and Safety => Topic started by: Woodhog on January 09, 2005, 06:49:01 AM

Title: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Woodhog on January 09, 2005, 06:49:01 AM
Here is a neat site that I found interesting regarding investigations of logging accidents in B.C.

I found it interesting to note how many similar situations
I have been in and was lucky...

http://publications.healthandsafetycentre.org/s/Topic.asp?ReportID=31201
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: leweee on January 09, 2005, 07:34:18 AM
Woodhog .... Thanks for that info.....adds new meaning to the words "dangerous occupation" :o
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: rebocardo on January 10, 2005, 01:11:47 PM
I read most of them and most are things that "just happened" from lacking of training, lack of foresight, or from working with others. But, the stupidest one has to be the jackpot guy.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on January 16, 2005, 09:56:17 AM
That one went from bad to worse. Setting the brakes while the truck was being unloaded?? He also gets a Darwin Award.
I used to see these reports at work all the time and unfortunately knew some of the people involved. Usually the victim was focused on the job at hand and did not take in the big picture
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Paschale on January 31, 2005, 05:24:30 PM
I'm going to bookmark this link.  The thing that makes these most sobering for me is the stats at the top of the page with age and experience.  It makes these somehow more tangible--they were real guys, not just a hypothetical case.  Most of those guys were people with a lot of experience, and it just shows sometimes how anything that we do for very long we can take for granted.  Working with wood, either logging, milling or woodworking is inherently dangerous.  Sometimes, it's the expert and experienced guy who does the most reckless things, simply because they're experienced, and assume something bad isn't going to happen to him.   :(
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Arthur on February 25, 2005, 05:17:07 PM
Good information

Im adding this to our web site to keep reminding both those who do and those who dont work with logs just how dangerous it can be.

Might help those who dont to apreciate those who do more.

Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on April 03, 2005, 11:15:58 AM
I watched a scene unfold Friday that made me cringe.  Two large blue spruce  were being removed from a residence across the street from the store. The feller's PPE consisted of a sleeveless shirt and ball cap on backwards.
He limbed the tree for about 10 feet, the height of his ladder, then tied a light rope to the trunk about 5 feet higher. The other end was tied to the homeowners mini-van
He did his notch then started his back cut. I doubt if he was more than the width of the bar  in when it started to fall. He dropped the saw and ran 90 degrees to the direction of the fall.  The tree rolled  and knocked him flat on his face right in front of his buddy who was watching!! Fortunately, he got up, retrieved the saw and started limbing.
Later, the elderly homeowner brought the saw, a beat up 044 with a battered 24" bar, in for sharpening. Probably got it at a pawnshop. The now cold chain was hanging a quarter inch from the rails.
I don't know if the young turks were hired or just  trying to help but the owner's liability could have been horrendous.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: rebocardo on April 13, 2005, 04:32:12 AM
Wow, that sounds incredible. Sounds like another coupleof inches and he would have been dead.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: mometal77 on June 17, 2005, 03:38:42 PM
http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/crem/face/loggingnarratives.htm
this is in west virginia i got sent.
bob
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Ernie on June 17, 2005, 03:50:41 PM
Bob

That site sure is food for thought.  I know where I'm going when my time comes but that dosen't mean I'm in a hurry to get there.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: crtreedude on June 17, 2005, 10:12:33 PM
For a while I was into rock climbing - I don't do it here because there are no rocks to climb. 

One thing that you see in the sport is the beginners and the very advanced tend to do themselves in. Beginners because they don't know how to be safe - very advanced because they get sloppy.

When I used to climb with people, I would go through a check list - if my partner thought it was silly, I got another partner.

Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Patty on June 28, 2005, 11:03:47 AM
We did the same thing when scuba diving. The check list was very important, and a dive buddy who respected the rules was mandatory.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Ernie on June 30, 2005, 04:00:43 PM
Patty

Don't you find that soaking in all that water adds more wrinkles to your shirt 8) 8)
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Patty on July 01, 2005, 07:44:46 AM
Yea, Norm noticed that too.     :o 


   He had no idea the water was so cold.  ;D
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Ron Scott on July 07, 2005, 09:57:49 PM
Also "plan your dive and dive your plan"  smiley_skull
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Climber on August 28, 2005, 11:10:49 AM
WOW! This site is make me think... But as I see most of accidents happened on hilly working areas. As occurred to me like 50% of fatalities could be avoided if following simple rules witch are written in any chainsaw user manual.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Arthur on August 28, 2005, 07:18:26 PM
Climber

this is the problem with most products.

In most cases the owner does not read or understand the user manual.  How many tools just get pulled out of the box and used???  Sales of chainsaws and other garden equipment would drop off dramatically if you needed to show your licence or ticket to prove you have passed a course so in theory you already know how to use even if it is only a safety course.

Just imagine what would happen if you didnt need a driving licence to drive a car!!! or fly that plane.

This is one reason we include a training course with our mills.  Its not compolsory yet as everyone so far takes the course.  We have had a few who have grumbled due to previous milling experience but at the end of the course they are all happy they took it.  We dont just teach how to use the mill but work on their experience to try to refine their milling knowledge.

Same with chainsaws.  I dont have that much experience and will learn at every opportunity.  Lately this has been on almost every tree.

arthur
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Ernie on August 28, 2005, 08:00:08 PM
Welcome Climber, it's good to have another youngster on the forum to balance out all we old guys :) :)
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Kevin on September 14, 2005, 09:51:36 PM
http://www.ofswa.on.ca/alercon.html
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: DanG on September 15, 2005, 09:22:22 AM
Good link, Kevin.  Lots of good lessons in there!  I see a lot of mention of "chicots", and never heard the term.  Is that just a standing dead tree?  Down here, we'd call it a "snag."

Also, several of the accidents were caused by "Dutch notches."  This looks like a good place for someone to explain exactly what that is and what can happen when you miscut in this fashion.

Sure wish there was more activity on the Health & Safety board. ;) :P
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: OneWithWood on September 15, 2005, 11:02:38 AM
this site
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/mainpage.html

has a bunch of useful info
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Kevin on September 15, 2005, 08:04:02 PM
Dan, the definition of a chicot would be a dead, or partially dead, standing tree.

A snag would be the same but having a 45 degree angle.

A Dutchman is from having a saw kerf cut into the hinge area beyond the apex.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: beenthere on September 15, 2005, 08:16:46 PM
A new word for me.
The google "define: chicot" came up with one definition and that was a Kentucky coffee tree.

http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=chicot


French word, possibly, that slips in there for snag. :)
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Kevin on December 04, 2005, 09:38:12 PM
logging accident (http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/crem/face/ppt/99WV026-01slidefinal.ppt)
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Kevin on December 17, 2005, 08:39:00 PM
Here's a new link ...

http://www.loggingsafety.com/fsa.htm
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on December 18, 2005, 12:49:40 PM
Logging injuries and fatalities are on the rise here too. The typical knee jerk reaction is to impose more rules but I believe more training over a longer period is needed to instill a safety attitude. I remember a heli- logging crew member saying "What are they going to do, take away my birthday?" when I pointed out a blatant infraction to him in a friendly manner. He was a know-it-all.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Snag on August 30, 2006, 08:36:42 AM
These stories really make you think.  A couple years ago we had a tree company on one of our construction projects.  The company was owned by the individual that did all the felling and most of the other work to boot.  A giant of a man and as nice as he was big.  Every thing he did was calculated and done as safely as he could.  One Monday we returned to work and were informed that he had been killed over the weekend.  They were doing another job and the man's son found him dead.  The son, working in the vicinity, had lost sight of him and went to investigate when there was no response to his calls.  They dont know exactly what happened, but a 6" dia tree that he was dropping caught him in the back of the head/neck.   He was already gone when the son found him.  Sometimes I wonder if I should be dropping trees at all when something like that happens to a trained, experienced, professional.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Raphael on September 06, 2006, 12:49:51 AM
Quote from: Snag on August 30, 2006, 08:36:42 AM
These stories really make you think... <snip>...  Sometimes I wonder if I should be dropping trees at all when something like that happens to a trained, experienced, professional.
  I hear that!  As an under trained, experienced, semi-professional forums like this are invaluable to me but they sure make you think...

  The same week I finished reading all the posts here in Health and Safety my father decided that we needed to drop a red maple with significant rot in the base where a second stem once resided (I've got two pictures of the aftermath in my gallery).  Of course it leaned ~120° to only open space and he'd spent most of the morning rigging a line single that I only use doubled (it's getting much too old).  It was probably the most nervous I've ever been dropping a tree and I've dropped similiar or worse plenty of times...

  That evening I ordered a new ¾" bull line, a new flip line, better harness w/ fall arrest straps, chaps, etc...
Only thing I forgot was a larger snatch block for the upgraded line.  ::)
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on September 13, 2006, 11:09:13 AM
This is an article re employees and employers liability. Food for thought.
Link to the report (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=b0684bf7-b3d4-4adb-bd10-181b4b4879c2&k=88754)
Sorry for the long link, haven't figured out how to title them.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Tom on September 13, 2006, 11:27:24 AM
It's easy, sawguy21, just click on the Globe icon just above the smilies.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on September 15, 2006, 12:50:14 AM
Well now, I just learned sumpin :D Thanks Tom
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: rebocardo on May 27, 2007, 04:27:15 PM
The one about the forester being trapped between his truck in drive and the metal gate must have been an awful slow death  :'(
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Phorester on December 18, 2007, 04:34:11 AM
Some interesting stats that came out of a recent meeting.  Recarbo, we also discussed the truck-against-the-gate accident. You never think that something so simple can be dangerous.  These figures are from a study at VA Tech and OSHA:

Cause of logging accidents by percent:

Falling Objects;    67%  (tree limbs, trees, logs falling off a truck while loading)

Equipment:          14     (other than chainsaws)

Other;                  13    (lightning, etc.)

Vehicles:               4

Chainsaws:            2   (1/2 of these came from a tree hitting a logger and knocking him into a saw)

Most accidents occured within 2 time periods;  10-11AM and 1-2PM.

Most accidents occured with two experience levels:  less than 5 years, more than 20 years.

Be careful out there gang.

Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on December 18, 2007, 10:25:59 AM
Your last comment is telling. Helicopter pilots with between 600 and 1200 hours flying time get in the most trouble. Just enough time to get cocky and complacent. With any luck, they will scare themselves without wrecking anything.
I sell most saws to inexperienced urban dwellers and some downright scare me. I had an irate customer, a supposed arborist,  return one yesterday after the bar and chain fell off. He is convinced it is a design flaw and the saw, a Stihl MS200T, is inherently dangerous. He is not the sharpest chain in the box so I refunded his money, he really should leave tree work to someone else.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Phorester on December 19, 2007, 07:09:20 AM

Same thing with forest fire accidents.  The experience level thing really hit home with me on that.  I've had over 30 years experience on fires, read all the safety stuff, study the accident reports, take the courses, teach the courses, etc. 

It was an eye opener to me last year when I discovered that I'm in one of the two groups that has the most accidents on fires.   :-[
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Texas Ranger on January 08, 2008, 04:10:36 PM
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/extra/P63405.asp

On-the-job accidents and homicides claimed the lives of 5,524 Americans last year, down 6.6% from 2001. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the workplace death rate is the lowest it has seen since recordkeeping began in 1992.

Of that 5,524, only 104 were timber-cutters, but those fatalities represent a death rate nearly 30 times that of a typical workplace. Loggers died at a rate of 117.8 per 100,000 workers, the BLS said, with most of them killed by falling trees. The death rate for American workplaces as a whole was 4 per 100,000. (That's among occupations with more than 30 fatalities in 2002 and more than 45,000 employed.)
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Gary_C on February 11, 2008, 11:21:57 AM
Another logger dies under a tree. http://hometownsource.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3763 (http://hometownsource.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3763)

All it takes is one little miscalculation or moment of inattention, even at 60 years old and a lifetime as an independent logger.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: moosehunter on March 11, 2008, 01:58:23 PM
 Odie is a friend of ours, one of my employees works with him on occation. We are all hoping he pulls through and can keep his leg. Read the story and you can tell what kind of guy he is, he is telling the rescue workers how to get him out!

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/NEWS01/803110325/1002

mh
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: submarinesailor on March 11, 2008, 05:46:39 PM
Moose,

Give him our best wishes.  Hope everything works out for him.

Bruce
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: beenthere on September 22, 2008, 12:19:24 PM
Logging accident in Wisconsin. Chainsaw stuck, so pulled on tree to free the saw, but the tree fell on the pickup and killed the man.

http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/28735559.html
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: SwampDonkey on September 22, 2008, 12:40:01 PM
A tree faller was recently killed in Canterbury, NB when part of a dead tree lodged into the tree top of the one he was felling came loose and struck him in the head. Don't forget to look up.  :-\
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Kevin on February 19, 2009, 02:55:03 PM
updated link

http://www.ofswa.on.ca/industry_alerts/industry_alerts_logging.asp
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: badpenny on February 19, 2009, 05:34:44 PM
   Don't know all the details yet, my sister called to say a worker on a job near them was pulled into a machine yesterday while greasing it, the life flight chopper was canceled as not needed. Her husband is a deputy sheriff, and this was heard on their scanner. Details to follow as I get them, but sounds like he was servicing a running machine.


   Update from 10 pm news, a 35 yo was killed near Leader when he was caught up in a conveyor on a wood chipper. Leader is about 5 miles from my sisters house.
Title: Two accidents, 2 age groups
Post by: Black_Bear on February 14, 2010, 05:24:58 PM
This article doesn't tell if the fella was an experienced cutter, but he is 61.

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/136602.html

In an unrelated recent accident, a local logger was severely hurt when a hot saw, which wasn't under power but was slowly spinning, removed his calf muscle and shattered one of the lower leg bones. At last report he is doing OK, but expects a long recovery. The two guys mainly involved are under 30; I'm not sure of their experience levels.

I'm not sure how the first accident happened, but the second one sounds like it was completely avoidable. I don't know why they were working around a spinning saw?
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Onthesauk on January 06, 2011, 10:00:39 PM
BREMERTON, Wash. -- A Hansville man died when his safety harness malfunctioned, causing him to fall some 70 to 100 feet down onto a concrete walkway on Wednesday.

Kitsap County sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilson said the incident occurred at Rocky Point Road NW and NW Montwood Lane at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Aaron B. Waag had been hoisted up by a boom crane, and was trying to reach the limb of a large fir tree when he fell. He was pronounced dead at the scene. (View photos of the scene >>>)

Wilson said Waag, 28, was wearing a safety harness at the time, but "for reasons not yet known, the harness detached from the boom crane hook," causing him to fall to the ground.

The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the incident.

Waag was a member of Waag Tree Service, a family-owned business based in Poulsbo.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: nsmike on January 31, 2012, 10:14:48 AM
I found this story this morning

Man dies in Chippewa County, Wis., logging accident
Associated Press

Posted: 01/31/2012 12:01:00 AM CST



A logger has died in a Chippewa County, Wis., accident.

Sheriff's officials say two men were logging in county forest land near Bob Lake, just west of Cornell, on Monday afternoon. A skidder slid down a hill and dumped some of the logs they were cutting.

Lt. Rick Starck tells WEAU-TV the men were at the bottom of the hill and were tightening the cables when the skidder rolled down the hill and hit one of them. Stack says steep terrain and snow conditions made it difficult to reach the victim, believed to be in his 30s.

An autopsy is expected to be done today. The other logger wasn't hurt.


Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Kevin on February 02, 2012, 03:04:40 PM
FATALITY - Safety Alert 2012-01-16 Grapple Skidder

On Monday, January 16, 2012 in the southern interior of British Columbia, an operator of a grapple skidder was fatally injured. The investigation into the incident is still at an early stage and no final determination has yet been made as to the cause of the incident; however preliminary findings has determined that the operator died as a result of being run over by his skidder while he was outside of his machine.


FATALITY - Safety Alert 2012-01-30 Faller

It is with great sadness that we advise that the BC forest industry has experienced its second direct harvesting-related fatality this year. On Monday January 30th, 2012 a faller in the Terrace area was fatally injured while carry out falling-related activities.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Phorester on February 02, 2012, 09:31:15 PM

A couple days ago a Virginia logger was injured while he was cutting a tree.  A large limb fell out of the tree toward him.  Evidently he heard it, looked up and put the running chainsaw up over his head to ward off the blow. My guess its that it was a reflex action.   The saw was slammed down onto his hard hat by the falling limb.  Cut through his hardhat and into his skull.  Last I heard today was he was still alive but in serious condition.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: beenthere on April 24, 2012, 03:39:59 PM
Lost a WI tree faller yesterday in Iowa County, when apparently a limb fell on him after he dropped a different tree. Don't know any details, other than was on private land. Nothing about a hard hat either.
Was sad to hear it.

Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Ernie on April 26, 2012, 10:57:56 PM
I just heard that last week that a mate of mine for whom I have done some milling was in his bush felling a few trees with his son.  The son left as they were almost done, Warren just wanted to drop one more.  The newspaper wrote it up as he was trapped under his tractor but that is where he dragged himself to wait for rescue.  The tree came back on him and smashed one of his legs below the knee.  Broken in 16 places on the one leg.  It happened around 4 pm and when he didn't show up for his meal the family went looking and eventually found him sheltering under the tractor.  The volunteer fire brigade people carried him out to where the chopper could pick him up; that was around midnight.  They were the same group that attended our fire.  Thank the Lord for the thousands of people who volunteer all over the world, where would we be without them.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: beenthere on May 18, 2015, 02:35:20 PM
Logging accident this past Friday in central WI. First reports were that a logger was killed when run over by a machine.
Latest news, with name, is that he was with a logging partner who found him on the ground with his saw still running. Apparently a large limb hit him on his helmeted head while falling a tree.

http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Man-dies-in-logging-accident-in-Monroe-Co-259673061.html

May he rest in peace, and prayers for his family.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: lamimartin on May 18, 2015, 04:07:44 PM
Quote from: Phorester on February 02, 2012, 09:31:15 PM

A couple days ago a Virginia logger was injured while he was cutting a tree.  A large limb fell out of the tree toward him.  Evidently he heard it, looked up and put the running chainsaw up over his head to ward off the blow. My guess its that it was a reflex action.   The saw was slammed down onto his hard hat by the falling limb.  Cut through his hardhat and into his skull.  Last I heard today was he was still alive but in serious condition.

Last year, I was walking around mature threes that were to be removed for a construction project. I just reminded my 82 years old father to pick a hard hat as I was expecting to start falling one of them in the next few minutes (he's a former lumberjack). It was a sunny day with barely any wind. Just seconds after he passed a big sugar maple tree, a large branch fell off  a few feet behind him.  The branch was as big as a man's leg... if he had been hit a few seconds earlier he could certainly have been killed.  If I had chosen that three without looking up first, it could have been my turn as well.

Falling threes or just even walking trough the woods without looking up first is really asking for trouble.  We've been fortunate this time, but did I ever get scared !  The most simple things that are overlooked can be deadly mistakes !

Living in the forest is great, but there are dangers that cannot be ignored.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: so il logger on June 03, 2015, 02:49:06 AM
This is the only B.S. thread that I have found here. If I would have seen it before I would have never joined. Sure it may be informative but as a faller myself I could just imagine somebody putting me on the thread as well god forbid something like that happen. These real life logger's are gone, and I'm sure they would not approve of the accident that took them making the newest topic here. Feel free to ban me  ;D But I have lost friends due to logging, and I am glad I didn't see they're names. It is a dangerous job, everyone know's that, carry on
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: SwampDonkey on June 03, 2015, 04:15:46 AM
Sorry you feel that way, but it's a constant reminder to be careful out there. Very few names are shown and mostly what the families, media and workman's compensation have posted. You can choose not to read it, doesn't change much when they bury your/my comrade.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: so il logger on June 03, 2015, 02:42:09 PM
True  :) I have thought about it and it's no different than newspaper or other media
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on July 07, 2015, 12:11:48 PM
A very experienced faller was on a fire line when he was hit and killed instantly by a falling tree yesterday. According to the news story the tree he was working dislodged another, he didn't hear it due to the noise of the helicopters. The front lines of a fire are downright scary, I don't miss it at all.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Magicman on July 07, 2015, 06:12:13 PM
Our community just experienced a tragic logging accident.  The area is so wet and muddy that the loaded trucks/trailers are having to be towed out behind a dozer to high/dry ground.  The trailer was loaded and the hookup was made.  The dozer operator was given the go ahead to make the pull.  No one noticed that the truck driver had gotten out and was, for some reason, between the truck and loaded trailer.  He was run over and crushed by the loaded trailer.

I personally know and go to church with the 38 year old dozer operator who is devastated.  The truck driver was a single parent and leaves three young children.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: petefrom bearswamp on July 07, 2015, 06:12:50 PM
Maybe this is why Logging is second behind Iron Working in the workers comp list of most dangerous jobs.
I am not a logger but have spent a good amount of time felling in timber stand improvement and firewood cutting as well as a small logging jobs for my mill.
Been hit on the noggin three times  and cut once. glancing blows all.
Lucky i guess.
I admire those who do this dangerous occupation for a living.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: beenthere on July 07, 2015, 07:34:39 PM
Must not have been given the "go ahead" by the driver. Hard to piece together just who directed the dozer operator to begin pulling.
Sad, to say the least.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: AlaskaLes on October 18, 2016, 01:12:46 PM
I stumbled across this thread recently and have come back here just to remind myself that I can't be too careful.
I've worked in the fields of Aviation Maintenance and Tactical Firearms Instruction and several others.

These two stand out because they are deadly and the loss of one of the workers in these fields always prompts a review of current tactics, techniques and procedures.  I have learned MANY valuable lessons from peoples misfortune and I feel that one of the best ways to honor someone's demise, is to learn from them.

These days, I'm constantly working in the trees and I have made it a point recently to take extra measures to try to survive this life I love so much.
Thanks for sharing these lessons...Please continue.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: AlaskaLes on October 18, 2016, 01:30:32 PM
I'd like to share one from our woods here.
2 Winters ago, I was out in our woods with a good friend who likes to hang out and help out during his off season.
He's an easy going, somewhat sarcastic, former Army Ranger...not sure how that all blends, but you get the idea.
I was dropping trees for a new shooting range driveway and he was helping to buck up what I put down.
After felling 4 or 5 med and large Birch, I was about to caution him about the tree he was starting to limb and it's precarious position.  It had dropped across a stump 3' off the ground and parked there.  My friend did his usual "yeah, yeah!, I know." and I shrugged it off and went back to limbing other trees.

When I'm working a saw, there's not much time off of the trigger.  Several minutes later, I paused to move and heard him yelling to me.
He's sitting on the ground, back to another tree, holding his arm.
Turned out he had basically trimmed the legs out from under this large tree and wasn't planning what would happen next.  The tree lost it's balance and rolled/spun down off of the stump and a 3-4" branch came around and caught his forearm just past the elbow.  He broke his arm in 3 places.
Not a good day!!
We spoke a few days after he got it set and casted and he said "Next time I tell you Yeah, yeah!!...just tell me to shut up, and go ahead with your safety speech anyway."
End result: He learned to listen and I learned to continue with the safety reminders. 
We ALL need them.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Abethetenacious on December 09, 2017, 08:32:14 AM
What is a Dutch notch
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Jeff on December 09, 2017, 10:31:02 AM
You can find a discription and diagram of a dutchman here, https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/manual/felling/cuts/dangers.html

Basically, its a poorly constructed notch where the notch cuts do not meet, leaving a shelf that doesn't keeps the "hinge" from fully closing. The  shelf can cause the hinge to break before the trees falling direction has been committed,  causing it to to go astray or it can cause the tree to stall and not fall.   It can also be used as a technique to turn a tree.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Abethetenacious on December 10, 2017, 05:47:09 PM
I for one am glad there is not a lot of activity on the health and safety board.been around it long enough to know some folks that either aren't around anymore or won't ever log again.and really I'm not a troll! 2years ago this week, a friend of mines husband died in the log Wood's.he was a pro,and will always be missed. Please be safe out there,that is something we can all agree on.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Abethetenacious on December 10, 2017, 05:50:45 PM
Thanks Jeff,was wondering what a Dutch notch was all about.is there any reason to use a Dutch notch
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: lxskllr on March 04, 2019, 03:10:21 PM
Boss went to a viewing today. A guy he knew that had been cutting for years got killed by a tree. The story I heard third hand was a tree he was cutting was full of vines, and it spun off the stump and hit his head. Killed him instantly.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: sawguy21 on March 04, 2019, 03:42:23 PM
I lost a long time friend a month ago. He didn't show up in town so his buddies went looking for him, they found him on the log landing pinned under the wheel of his pickup. Apparently he had been having trouble with the starter.
Ironically the truck was due to go in the shop the next day for a transmission related recall, they had a problem with popping out of park. For some reason, he neglected to set the parking brake.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: lxskllr on March 04, 2019, 05:02:41 PM
Condolences Sawguy. That's actually one of my biggest fears. Working on a truck, and having it come down on top of me. I always try to find something to put under the frame, so me and/or the ground isn't the first thing it hits if it comes off a jack.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: lxskllr on June 20, 2019, 01:56:35 PM
Draftsman just told me a school near is house was getting tree work done, and a climber fell out of the tree and into the chipper  D^:

Word is he's still alive, but lost both arms. Twenty year old kid. No words... Gotta wonder who thought it was a good idea to put the chipper right in the work zone. There's no finer points about that accident, and it doesn't take a tree specialist to see the potential problems of that setup  :^S
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Wudman on November 13, 2019, 11:58:19 AM
One of my contractors broke his arm last week.  He was felling a large oak and it brushed a smaller poplar on the way down.  A limb catapulted  from the poplar and caught him.  It glanced off his hardhat and hit him between the wrist and elbow of his left arm breaking both bones.  He is scheduled to have it plated this week.  He said he was watching the fall of the oak and never saw the poplar limb until it hit him, but he did walk away from it.

Wudman
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Ron Scott on November 17, 2019, 11:05:47 PM
Certainly may have been worse if not for the hardhat taking some of the hit.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: Hickory Bow on May 26, 2020, 08:12:40 PM
Man loses an arm in a chainsaw accident - Dripline.net (http://dripline.net/man-loses-an-arm-in-a-chainsaw-accident/)

I am unclear how this man lived...What a bizzare accident.
Title: Re: Logging Accident Reviews
Post by: 421Altered on January 12, 2022, 05:32:20 PM
Near where I live a 77 year old man was killed when attempting to push down a dead tree with the bucket of his tractor.  The top of the tree fell back onto the roof of the tractor, crashing through and killing the man.  I have no first hand knowledge of the accident, just forwarding the info from local sheriff's office.  However, I do know for a fact that he was buried last week.  Dead trees can be more dangerous than live trees, be careful!