Forestry Fatals Preventable

By 250 News

 The BC Coroners Service  is calling on all  operators of  forestry and wood manufacturing equipment to  make sure all equipment and machinery is properly locked-out or immobilized before any repairs or maintenance work begins.

There have been two fatalities in the forestry industry this past week.  In one case near Clearwater, a  faller was crushed by a tree, in the other, a worker troubleshooting a mechanical problem on a skidder was killed when the equipment rolled over him.

Resource Industry Coroner Tom Pawlowski says everyone has to work on  making sure safety precautions and procedures are followed "We also want to urge all employers and supervisors to ensure that workers are familiar with, and use, proper risk assessment tools and safe work practices."

 
In 2006, there were six fatal incidents involving failure to lock-out, or immobilize machinery and mobile equipment. In virtually all of those  cases, the deceased were experienced operators.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us