Forest Harvesting and Manufacturing Fatalities

All statistics are based on information available at time of publishing. For current information, please see the statistics page.

Please note: *There are four fatalities the BC Forest Safety Council is aware of that occurred in 2014. WorkSafeBC tracks fatalities by the year in which they accept the claim. The BCFSC uses the WorkSafeBC data of accepted claims for trends although it may not specifically indicate current year fatalities, it is the only long term data base for comparative purposes. **As at January 6, 2016, it is anticipated that 8 fatalities will be Accepted Harvest Fatality Claims that occurred in 2015. This is preliminary information.

Please note: The 2015 1.11 fatality rate is based on an estimated 2015 harvest of 72 million cubic metres.

Explanation of the 2015 fatalities

Until claims are finalized by WorkSafeBC, there is the potential for changes on classifications between direct or associated fatalities, and/or potentially previously unknown incidents. Preliminary information, however, as at January 12, 2016 for 2015, is as follows.

There were eight direct forest harvesting fatalities in 2015

• February 11, 2015: Log truck driver in heavy snow rear ended another log truck on the Alaska Highway (at Mile 64).
• April 6, 2015: Pickup truck driver at side of resource road struck by another truck near Smithers.
• July 11, 2015: Faller falling a tree was struck by another tree on the Northern BC Coast.
• July 24, 2015: Faller struck by tree dislodged by log line loader (super snorkel) near Holberg.
• July 27, 2015: Skidder operator out of cab was struck by a runaway log while working near Revelstoke. • October 14, 2015: A worker was fatally injured when the heavy duty truck he was working under rolled over him in the Ladysmith area, Vancouver Island.
• November 17, 2015: A log truck driver was fatally injured when his log truck was caught in a landslide and carried down a steep slope in an area north of Hope.
• December 21, 2015: A 71-year-old Hope log truck driver, was pronounced dead at the scene after his loaded logging truck rolled on its side in a single vehicle incident on the Lougheed Highway near the Deroche Bridge.

There were four associated forest harvesting fatalities in 2015

• January 6, 2015: A certified faller died while falling a tree that barberchaired on a residential property in Chilliwack.
• May 23, 2015: Low bed truck driver delivering equipment was struck by a piece of tree while pulling fallen trees off a road near Prince George.
• July 5, 2015: Faller fighting wildfire was struck by tree in falling incident near Sechelt.
• December 7, 2015: A 28-year-old Nanaimo woman died at the scene when the car she was driving collided with a logging truck near Fort St. James, in icy conditions.

There was one sawmill manufacturing fatality in 2015

• September 15, 2015: A 28-year-old worker died after he was pinned between a large stacker and the sort deck on which he was working, at Creston.

There were two natural causes fatalities in 2015

• October 14, 2015: a worker building a logging road near Cherryville was found collapsed near his bulldozer.
• December 12, 2015: A worker was found unresponsive at a barge camp of a remote heli-logging operation. The worker was transported via helicopter to Port Hardy airport, where he was pronounced deceased by medical emergency services.