Background

            A timber cutter and skidder operator were clear-cutting and skidding hardwood timber on a clear, sunny summer morning in the Appalachians.

Personal Characteristics

            The 47-year-old timber cutter had worked in the woods for the past 10 years. He was fully trained in timber felling techniques, and he was wearing all appropriate personal protective equipment. He had worked all morning, felling and trimming timber, and lunch time was approaching.

Unsafe Act or Condition

            The timber cutter felled a 30-inch diameter chestnut oak tree and trimmed two of three limbs of a triple fork. The third limb rose off the ground and was above the timber cutter’s head. He left the third limb intact and expected the skidder operator to finish trimming the limb after pulling the tree to the landing.

            The timber cutter needed to refuel his chainsaw. He walked to retrieve the gas and oil in an area behind him, where he had been cutting earlier in the day. He kneeled down with his back to the skidding activity. The skidder operator was aware of the proximity of the timber cutter; he winched the tree toward the machine slowly with his full attention directed at the tree and the timber cutter.

Accident

            As winching continued, the tree began to pivot on another tree lying on the low side of the skid road and used to keep the drag in proper position behind the machine during travel. The skidded tree began to roll. The untrimmed limb shifted and moved rapidly toward the timber cutter, who was refueling slightly uphill from the skid road. The upper part of the untrimmed limb struck the timber cutter in the back of the hardhat with a glancing blow.

Injury

            The force of the blow pushed the timber cutter’s head and hardhat forward into the ground. The skidder operator stopped immediately and went to check on the timber cutter. The timber cutter was not harmed, but his hardhat was scuffed and the face screen was crushed to half of its original size.

Recommendations

            1. The timber cutter and the skidder operator should maintain a safe working distance of at least ‘twice tree height’ from each other.

            2. Timber cutters should refuel or sharpen chainsaws at a safe distance from active skid trails, preferably using live trees to shield them from skidded trees.

            3. Maintain visual and audible communications if a procedure requires two crew members to work in close contact temporarily.

            4. Use ‘close calls’ as subjects for safety discussions, and commit to being more safety conscious in the future.

            (Source: Forest Resources Assn.)