Inspection Detail

Inspection: 308776798 - Fulcher Logging, Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Jackson Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on August 16, 2007, Employee #1 was cutting logs on the ground using a Stihl 440 Magnum chainsaw. He was in a "NO CUT ZONE," with his back to a Peterbilt Trailer with a Prentice 210-E loader being loaded at the log-loading ramp. A short pulpwood log (8 in. to 10 in. diameter and 30 ft to 35 ft long) slid off the right side of the 40-ft-long trailer, from between the back two bolsters, and struck the employee behind his right shoulder. When the end of the log hit the employee, it twisted him down to his left. The left side of his head hit a log already on the ground. He continued falling, and rolled onto his back between two logs. Coworkers went to assist him and he was trying to get up on his own. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and his left eye was swelling shut. The employee was taken from the loading ramp site by the company truck in route to the hospital. They met the ambulance and the employee was transferred from the company truck to the ambulance. The ambulance arrived at the Winston County Medical Center at 8:55 a.m. but the Hospital determined that employee needed to be transferred to the North MS Medical Center by AIR-EVAC's helicopter. While in route, the employee lost vital signs and the helicopter was diverted to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Columbus, Mississippi for stabilization and CPR. Employee #1 was pronounced dead at 11:19 a.m. at the Columbus, Mississippi hospital. The employee had been wearing a white hard hat, but was not wearing cut-resistant chaps or safety glasses, nor a reflective vest. The employer provided hard hats, safety shoes, safety glasses, chaps, ear plugs, and orange vests for saw hands who cut trees in the woods. The employee also had been verbally warned before the accident that he was getting too close to the loaders to cut logs on the ground.

Keywords: PPE, LOG, LOADER, STRUCK BY, TRAILER, FALLING OBJECT