Date of Incident / Close Call:
Company Name:
Washington State Dept. of Labour & Industries
Details of Incident / Close Call:
Two manual fallers were hired to fall trees that a tethered machine could not cut.
The fallers packed their gear to two alder trees that were to be hand felled. They assessed the situation and found it to be unsafe. The trees were brushed in and had been struck by trees felled by the tethered machine.
A large limb had broken off of one tree and was laying against the other standing tree.
The fallers made the right choice and did not fall the trees due to the hazardous situation.
Learnings and Suggestions:
- When possible, mark out areas to be hand felled and allow the fallers to work first
- Fall trees into the open and do not rub timber that has to be hand felled
- If brush or timber are piled against standing timber, clean the area up for the hand fallers
- When planning units to be felled with a tethered machine, communicate with hand fallers to ensure that they can do their work safely
- If you see a hazardous situation, speak up! Walk away if the work can’t be done safely.
For more information on this submitted alert:
Washington State Dept. of Labour & Industries. Link to web site and PDF of this alert: https://goo.gl/DdtsZr
