Faller dies when struck by large slab of danger tree

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Preliminary Accident Information

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A faller was trying to overcome a falling difficulty by himself. He made cuts and placed wedges in three green trees so that he could use two of them to push over the third. The third tree was limb-tied with a nearby dead danger tree. The trees began to fall in succession. As the third tree fell, its branches caused a large slab to break off the nearby danger tree. The slab struck the faller, causing fatal injuries.

Safe work practices:

• Ensure that supervisors/bullbuckers inspect falling blocks—by means of a walk-through—to identify potential hazards and to create a safe falling plan. Communicate this plan to fallers.
• Discuss falling difficulties with your supervisor/bullbucker to determine the safest way to proceed.
• Provide specific written safe work procedures for falling and for overcoming falling difficulties, including the following:
• Stop work immediately and seek qualified assistance if the second of two limb-tied trees is a danger tree.
• Ensure that no danger trees are nearby if a pusher tree is used to overcome a falling difficulty.
• Avoid using more than one pusher tree at a time to overcome a falling difficulty.
• Plan and brush out a safe escape route and, if necessary, an alternative escape route.
• Consider alternative means (such as blasting) to remove danger trees.
• Review safe work procedures regularly with all workers, including certified fallers.
• Consult the BC Faller Training Standard for detailed information and instructions on site and tree assessments, limb-tied trees, falling dangerous trees, and alternative falling methods. Find the Standard on WorkSafeBC.com. Click on "Publications" at the top of the home page. Under "Health and safety" click on "By topic." Then click on "Forestry" and scroll down to the Standard.

Relevant sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation*

General Requirements
26.2 Planning and conducting a forestry operation

(2) Every person who has knowledge and control of any particular activity in a forestry operation must ensure that the activity is both planned and conducted in a manner consistent with this Regulation and with safe work practices acceptable to the Board.

(3) The planning required under this section must

(a) include identification of any work activities or conditions at the workplace where there is a known or reasonably foreseeable risk to workers,
(b) be completed before work commences on the relevant activity, and
(c) be documented at the time of planning....

26.24 Responsibility for falling and bucking

(6) A tree must not be used to cause another partially cut tree to fall in succession unless

(a) it is necessary to do so to overcome a specific falling difficulty, and
(b) the succession falling is done in accordance with subsection (6.1).

(6.1) The following apply for the purposes of subsection (6):

(a) only one tree may be used to cause another partially cut tree to fall in succession;
(b) only those trees necessary to deal with the falling difficulty referred to in subsection (6) are partially cut;
(c) a wedge is driven into the backcut of each partially cut tree.

(7) When a tree starts to fall, the faller and any other worker present must move quickly to a predetermined safe position, at least 3 m (10 ft) away from the base of the tree where possible, and take cover if available....

26.26 Falling dangerous trees

(2) When falling a dangerous tree,
...

(d) pushing with a green tree must only be undertaken to overcome a falling difficulty ...

(3) If conventional methods cannot be safely employed to fall a dangerous tree, blasting or other acceptable methods must be used....

* The sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation listed in this hazard alert do not imply a breach of the Regulation on the part of any party that may have been involved in this incident. The purpose in listing specific sections of the Regulation is to make readers aware of some of the applicable sections of the Regulation.