Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120142047 - Rounds Logging

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on September 18, 2002, Employee #1 was working as a chaser in the landing area of a logging site in the Shasta National Forest, northwest of Big Bend, CA. There were five coworkers at the site, including a mobile yarder operator/supervisor, a log loader operator, and three choker setters at the bottom of the hill, approximately 1,200 ft away. The mobile yarder was secured with cables and was stationary. The operator of the Caterpillar 325 log loader (ID Number 8NK0110, Serial Number 982-04788) was moving logs out of the full chute in front of the yarder so that more logs could be hauled up the hill to the landing. He had set some logs behind and to the right of the log loader, including a 1-ft-diameter by approximately 8-ft-long log that had rolled off behind the loader. As the operator entered the chute, he saw Employee #1 to his left and in front of him, approximately 15 ft away, standing next to the Thunderbird mobile yarder (Model TSY-255, Serial Number S-5081). The operator then grabbed another large log from the chute and began to move it. This operation took some time because of the size of the log. Meanwhile, Employee #1 picked up a chain saw and walked around the mobile yarder to buck logs. He saw the log that had rolled off the pile and walked over to begin working on it. He was positioned with his back to the log loader when the loader operator backed approximately 6 ft out of the chute and crushed Employee #1 between the tread of the equipment and the log he was bucking. The yarder operator radioed the loader operator and told him that he had backed into Employee #1. The loader operator dismounted, saw Employee #1 crushed under the left track, and pulled his vehicle forward before calling emergency responders. CPR was performed, however, Employee #1 died of his injuries.

Keywords: YARDING, LOG, WORK RULES, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, LOGGER, LOADER, LOGGING, COMMUNICATION, BACKING UP