Deans MT Logging Co: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Oct 8, 2008: Employee fractures leg when struck by log

On October 8, 2008, an employee and coworkers had set the turn, walked up the hi ll and were in the clear. The car and the turn were at the edge of the landing. A log slid down the hill at the rigging crew, as they had just begun to move tow ards the road line. The log struck the employee and narrowly missed the two cowo rkers. The log was approximately 50 feet long and 16 inches diameter at the larg e end. The employee was originally transported to the hospital in Florence and t hen was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, Oregon for treatment of a broken leg.

Incident on Jul 7, 2008: Yarder operator injured when logging tower falls over

On July 7, 2008, Employee #1 was a yarder operator on a crew that was cable logg ing a clear-cut unit near the town of Lorane, Oregon. They were using a Bowman m otorized carriage and a 009 Madill slackline yarder with eight guylines. The sta nding skyline was anchored approximately 1800 feet on the other side of the unit and there was approximately 150 feet of lift. The rigging crew was in the back of the unit just above the buffer strip and the creek. The crew had sent two log s to the carriage and was preparing to send the carriage towards the yarder. One of the front guylines dropped so it would not be in the way of the yarding. One of the back guylines on the landing had pulled. Because there was a lot of slac k in the skyline, the rigging crew thought the skyline brake had slipped. The ya rder engineer attempted to dump the skyline off but another back guyline also pu lled causing the tower to fall. Employee #1 was thrown upside down in the cab an d received a cracked skull, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Life flight transp orted the victim to the hospital.