Background:

            On a fall day in the Appalachians, a log truck driver was unbinding his load at a mill’s woodyard. The wood was loaded below the log trailer standards, and the driver released the tension on the tiedown straps and unhooked the flat hooks.

Personal Characteristics:

            The driver was an independent contract hauler in his mid-50s and was considered to be a safety-conscious individual. His previous accident history is unknown. He was wearing a hard hat and safety glasses.

Unsafe Acts & Conditions:

            As the driver pulled a loosened tiedown strap back over the load to the side with the ratcheting spools, the flat hook became snagged at the top of the load. The driver, standing alongside the strap, jerked hard on the strap in an effort to release the snagged hook.

Accident:

            The hook suddenly broke free, and the tiedown strap and hook shot over and down onto the driver. The metal hook struck him in the face and the upper lip.

Injury:

            He required several stitches.

Recommendations:

            • Never stand directly underneath the path of the tiedown hook if you must pull it back over the top of the load. Stand back and to the side.

            • One safer (but time-consuming) procedure would be to grab the hook after releasing the load tension and pull the strap completely out of the ratcheting spool end, rather than pulling the hook end back over the load.

            • Always wear a hardhat, safety glasses, and other PPE as required by a mill during unloading.

            • Some pivot-arm unbinding racks at woodyards have added a metal roof or ledge just under the pivoting arms to protect the driver from being hit by the strap hook when it is pulled off from above.

            Source: Forest Resources Association