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September 2012 - Hunting Season is here

Safety Alert Type: 
Worksites
Location: 
British Columbia
Date of Incident / Close Call: 
2012-09-12
Company Name: 
BC Forest Safety Council
Details of Incident / Close Call: 

 

 

 

Steve had just received the map and pre-work information for their latest logging block. Tomorrow was Saturday and he could scout the block and do some hunting at the same time. It would be a good opportunity to see if the block roads were in the right location and if he was lucky, find a moose.

Steve’s boss didn’t mind him using the company pickup for the Saturday work/hunting trip. It had all the road channels in the radio and the satellite phone to use if he needed a hand. His boss did insist that he use the call in procedures just like any other work day.

Steve arrived at the block at dawn, called in and walked all the roads and boundaries. He knew his high-vis hardhat and vest weren’t going to help his hunting but he felt it was important to wear them. He took a GPS waypoint at his pickup; he didn’t want to waste any time getting back to his truck if he got something.

As he walked out of the timber, he got a strange feeling. He looked down the road and was shocked to see that he was in the sights of another hunter’s rifle. When he realized Steve wasn’t a moose, the other hunter quickly put the rifle away and drove his ATV over to chat. “Good thing you’re lit up like a Christmas tree! I thought you were a bull moose!”, he said. After cooling down, Steve tried to calmly explain that he should be using his binoculars, not his scope to try to figure out if Steve was an animal or not. After that, Steve headed back to his pickup – time to check in with the office to let them know he was OK.

Learnings and Suggestions: 

  • It is especially important to wear high visibility clothing during hunting season.
  • When working or playing outdoors, make sure you have a check-in system so someone will come looking for you if you don’t return.
  • Watch out for increased traffic on the roads and in the woods during hunting season. These are not the regular industrial users of the roads and they may not react as you expect.
  • Place “No Hunting” signs around your worksites to let hunters know there are workers in the area.

 

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