Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119759538 - The Pacific Lumber Co

Inspection Information - Office: Redding District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a whistle punk for Pacific Lumber Company, was in a hole with three coworkers, setters, on a running skyline Thunderbird PSY 200 Palco #199 yarder side, serial #110535. A turn had just gone in and Employee #1 knew it was at the landing because the skyline had stopped. The crew was landing logs directly under the tower and not swinging, so the skyline was not being dropped. Employee #1 said that before he went up on a knoll to look for logs for the next turn, he looked at the skyline, but because it is about 50 feet in the air, he found it hard to judge how close he was to being under it. When the employee reached a spot to see the logs, he again looked up, realized that he was directly under the lines, and turned to leave. At that moment, the skyline dropped, hitting him across the upper back and shoulders, and knocking him to the ground. Employee #1 was hospitalized with a fractured leg. The yarder operator had a log in the way at the landing and slacked the line to swing around it, causing the skyline to drop.

Keywords: FRACTURE, YARDING, WORK RULES, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, LOGGING, DRAGLINE, LEG