Logging company fined for not reporting fatality
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Timberwolf Logging, a Littleton, NH, logging contractor, for safety violations following the death of a worker at a Shelburne, NH site, proposing penalties totaling $15,700.
David May, OSHA area director for New Hampshire, says the violations were discovered during an inspection conducted between Jan. 13 and 17, 2000, and chiefly concern violations of OSHA’s logging safety standard and failure to notify OSHA of the fatality in a timely manner.
Truck’s parking brakes were not functional
On Jan. 12, an employee of Timberwolf Logging was killed at a work site off Ingalls Valley Road in Shelburne when he was crushed between a fuel truck and a skidder that were stopped on an incline. The worker was standing between the two vehicles when the fuel truck rolled back and killed him.
"The inspection found that neither the truck’s parking brake, nor its regular brake system were functioning," May says. "Consequently, the parking brake could not have prevented the truck from rolling free, even if it had been set."
May says the inspection identified other logging safety deficiencies, including a lack of employee training in the logging standard, first aid, and CPR; failure to conduct required safety and health meetings; lack of a first-aid kit or fire extinguisher on the truck; and failure to maintain adequate communication among workers at remote work sites.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content