Logging Safety: Are We Learning? NIELSde Hoop
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ogging is known as one of the most dangerous industries and occupations. Most years, loggers and fishermen vie for the top spot in fatal accident rates (think of rates as being percentages of workers). Generally, fishermen fall overboard and loggers get crushed by trees. When I worked in Canada in the late 1970s, I remember reading that the forest products industry (including mills) ranked in the top three industries for accidents, along with construction and mining.
In the 1980s, there were about 200 fatal logging accidents nationwide per year. Louisiana alone had four to eight per year. These numbers declined over the years. Since 2007, the nationwide number ranged 63-105 per year, and the Louisiana number was usually zero or one. Even the 1990s safety numbers were improvements when viewed over the decades. For example, in the 1930s, Oregon alone suffered 300-400 fatalities annually. Non-fatal accident rates also have made progress, dropping roughly sixfold since the late 1980s in both the U.S. and Louisiana. In fact, the logging accident rates in Louisiana have dropped so low that the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has not reported a number since 2013. That doesn’t mean “no accidents.” It means that the numbers are so low that the statisticians worry about keeping the data anonymous. 10
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This is the reason that the Louisiana Logging Council maintains its own database of logging accidents in the state. This is the only effective source we have. So, when the Logging Council’s Gracee Texada contacts you each January for the previous year’s accident reports, please help out by sending in your responses. How does Louisiana stack up against other states? Our numbers are roughly equal to that of Alabama and Arkansas. Our accident rates are half the national average. By contrast, Oregon’s accident rates are double the national average. The difference, of course, is terrain — the mountainous terrain of Oregon demands a lot of cable logging accompanied by manual felling. To what can we attribute the improvement in logging accidents in Louisiana? The most obvious answer is—chain saws, or rather the trend toward a lack of chain saws in the logging woods. Mechanized felling has largely replaced manual felling. Operators sit safely inside enclosed cabs that are built to rollover and designed to falling object protection standards (ROPS and FOPS). Essentially, the only time operators get hurt is when they are outside the cab—such as when doing maintenance. Mounting and dismounting used to be the major problem, with operators jumping off machines. Education can take the credit here. Talking and writing about 3-point mounting and dismounting has been effective. OSHA inspectors watched for it, getting the attention of truck drivers, and the drivers helped spread the word to other logging sites. Where do the problems remain? Maintenance and repairs remain an issue, but most of today’s accidents in Louisiana center around the trucking
part of the logging industry. Even the trucking accidents have changed. In the 1980s and 1990s, most truck driver injuries occurred while the driver was outside the cab—throwing binder chains, walking on rough terrain and slipping while mounting or dismounting. Replacing chains with cables or straps has helped a lot. Today, most truck driver injuries occur on the roads. Vehicle accidents remain a nagging problem. In fact, according to the BLS, one-third of all occupational accidents are actually transportation accidents. This holds true for logging, the mills and all industries combined. This says something about the importance of defensive driving education and other programs designed to reduce road accidents. Also, the numbers I discussed do not include members of the public injured or killed in vehicle accidents with trucks. Those numbers are typically one to three per year in Louisiana. Most are not the fault of the truck driver, but dead is still dead, and it takes more than just a safe driver to prevent accidents. Because we have to share the road with the public, we need to interact more with the public to prevent accidents. This means funding for better roads and educating the public to respect trucks. One of the most interesting ways of analyzing our progress is to look at which occupations now have the highest accident rates. I found the list of Highest Incident Rates of Total Nonfatal Occupational Injury Cases, 2020. Of the 25 top industries on this list, logging was not on it! In fact, No. 1 on that list was Skiing Facilities, followed by Nursing & Residential Care. While there are always unsafe conditions and unsafe acts to improve, it is nice to reflect on the progress the logging industry has made. Our accident rates have fallen to just above the industry-wide average of all industries (2.3 v 2.6) in recent years, and we still have the institutional memory to apply our lessons learned to the remaining problems and even to other industries. So, take heart that logging has become much safer, but be cautious of TH ski slope work. C.F. “Niels” de Hoop is an associate professor at the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, LSU AgCenter TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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