Inquest Jury Rules on Logging Truck Driver's Death

By 250 News

Forestry Coroner Tom Pawlowski’s inquest occured at the Prince George Courthouse

The jury at the Forestry Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Joseph Jules Francois (Frank) Leroux deliberated for a couple of hours this afternoon before returning with a verdict and 17 recommendations.

Leroux was killed back on March 20th, 2006, when his logging truck left the Finlay-Philip Forest Service Road.  A toxicology report did come back positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

After hearing seven days of testimony, the five-person jury has classified Leroux’s death as accidental and issued a total of 17 safety-oriented recommendations to various agencies, including:  the Minister of Forests and Range Rich Coleman, the Chair of Worksafe BC, the BC Forest Safety Council and ICBC.

Some highlights from the recommendations follow:

To:  the Minister of Forests and Range Rich Coleman

- that BC Timber Sales should be required to conduct risk assessments when allocating timber sales; such as risk assessments should include study of impacts on road safety and take into consideration operations involving existing road users.

-  that the Ministry of Forests and Range work towards standardization of forest road signage including location and format of kilometre markers, must-call signs and signs indicating location of pull-outs

- that worker health & safety and road user safety be included as objectives in all forest stewardship plans

- that adequate resources be provided to Compliance and Enforcement to ensure that adequate leveles of enforcement is carried out on forest roads

To:  Douglas Enns, Chair of WorkSafe BC

- that WorkSafe BC commission an engineering study to assess safe load limits for off-highway trucks

- that WorkSafe BC conduct a study to test the feasibility of requiring truck tracking and monitoring devices for the purpose of road-use compliance

- that WorkSafe BC, in conjunction with the RCMP, coordinates a minimum of two resource road checks per logging season per forest district in regards to drug and alcohol abuse

To:  Tanner Elton, CEO/Executive Director of the BC Forest Safety Council

- that the BC Forest Safety Council continue to work towards and expedite its efforts towards the development of a standardized radio use protocol throughout BC

- that the council works on educating truck drivers about compliance with requirements for pre-trip inspections

- that the council move the issue of substance misuse in the forest industry to the forefront of its agenda

To:  Paul Taylor, President & CEO, ICBC

- that ICBC implement a forestry endorsement for commercial drivers and includes a 50-hour ride along time in a commercial logging truck prior to receiving the endorsement

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