Background

            On an overcast winter day in the Appalachians, a mechanical harvester was completing a harvesting operation by cutting a strip of trees between a power line and a country road.

Personal Characteristics

            The 26-year-old harvester operator had been involved in his family logging operation since graduating from high school. He had operated the harvester for three years and was considered very experienced.

Unsafe Act or Condition

            When the operator originally began the harvest, he noticed there was a feeder power line running perpendicular to the main power line and crossing the road to a house. He decided to wait until the end of the harvest before dealing with this hazardous situation.

            A company forester had come to the logger’s job that morning and was riding in the machine with the operator when he began cutting this last strip of trees on the job. Although they both mentioned the power line, the operator forgot about the line that crossed through the trees to the house across the road. When the operator approached the line crossing through the trees, he reached and grabbed a tree that was tangled up with the high voltage wire.

Accident

            As the operator pulled the tree, the forester and operator could see the power line and pole begin to shake violently. Before the operator could react, the pole snapped off, falling across the road and blocking it.

Injury

            The operator released the tree and backed the machine away from the power line. Both men exited the machine and stood out on the road to prevent any vehicles from running into the utility pole. They called the power company and reported the incident to the local sheriff’s office as well. Within an hour, a power company line crew responded; they tripped a breaker on the nearby pole to turn off the power. No one was injured. The line was repaired, and power was restored within four hours.

Recommendations

            When a machine operator identifies a hazard, it is best to remove the hazard as soon as possible. If it is not feasible to remove it immediately, mark the hazard with flagging to identify it clearly. If unsure of how to remove the hazards, discuss it and a course of action with an experienced supervisor. Consider working out and even writing down a plan to identify and deal with hazards on a specific tract prior to working in the area.

            If it is too dangerous to harvest trees close to a power line, leave them uncut or contact the landowner and the power company to see if the power can be cut off briefly while the trees are removed.

            For more information, see the Forest Resource Association’s Loss Control Overview, LC)-30, on Power Line Safety; it is available for free download at www.loggingsafety.com.

            The forester should not have ridden with the operator; he may have distracted the operator from focusing on the power line danger. Logging supervisors should enforce a ‘no riders’ policy.

            (Source: Forest Resources Assn.)