Background

            On a warm, dry summer day in the Appalachians, a grapple skidder operator was traveling empty from the log deck to the area where a tracked cutter was working. The topography was rolling hills with occasional steep slopes.

Personal Characteristics

            The skidder operator, 68, had been employed with this logging company for about four years. He had been logging and operating forestry equipment for most of his working life. He was considered fully trained, had no physical disabilities or previous accident history and was wearing personal protective equipment.

Unsafe Act or Condition

            The skidder operator was traveling uphill on an extremely steep slope when his blade struck a 12-inch diameter, 12-inch tall stump on the right side of the skid trail. The trail was about 25 feet wide and composed of loose, dry soil. The skidder operator was not wearing his seatbelt.

Accident

            When the skidder blade struck the stump, it caused the skidder’s right

front tire to jump up on the stump.

The other skidder tires began spinning. Evidence indicates the skidder became

unsteady, its center of gravity exceeded, and the machine began to turn over onto

its right side and rolled over. It continued to roll over and over, traveling 175 feet downhill across another skid trail. The

machine knocked down a few small trees and finally struck a 12-inch diameter

yellow poplar and came to a halt. It appears the skidder rolled over four to five times before coming to a stop against the yellow poplar.

Injury

            The operator was killed inside the skidder cab by massive chest trauma.

Recommendations

            1. Require equipment operators

to wear seatbelts when operating logging machinery.

            2. Employers should conduct safety meetings to discuss the hazards of operating logging equipment on steep slopes and the danger of exceeding a machine’s center of gravity.

            (Source: Forest Resources Assn.)