105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14547921

CHEST,FRACTURE,HEAD,LUNG,YARDING,LOG,STRUCK BY,CONCUSSION,LOGGING

Event
CHEST,FRACTURE,HEAD,LUNG,YARDING,LOG,STRUCK BY,CONCUSSION,LOGGING
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14547921
Report ID
1050210

Event description

STRUCK BY UPENDING CHOKED LOG BEING HIGH-LEAD YARDED

Investigation abstract

ON AUGUST 15, 1985, AT 11:15 AM, EMPLOYEES #1, 2 AND 3 WERE SETTING CHOKERS ON A OF THE 65 FOOT LOG REACHED INTO THEIR POSITION, STRIKING EMPLOYEE #1 IN THE HEAD AND CHEST, KILLING HIM. EMPLOYEE #2 SUFFERED A MASSIVE CONCUSSION AND IS HOSPIT ALIZED IN SERIOUS CONDITION. EMPLOYEE #3 SUFFERED A FRACTURED CLAVICAL AND A COL LAPSED LUNG. HE WAS RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL TO CONVALESCE AT HOME ON THE FOUR TH DAY. HIGH-LEAD LOGGING OPERATION. THE HEAD RIGGER (#1) HAD DIRECTED THE SETTING OF 3 CHOKERS ON 3 SEPARATE LOGS, THEN DIRECTED THE CREW TO WHAT HE CONSIDERED A SAFE LOCATION, OUT OF REACH OF UPENDING LOGS. HE THEN GAVE THE SIGNAL FOR THE LOGS T O BE YARDED. HE HAD NOT DETERMINED THE LENGTH OF ONE LOG WHICH HAD NOT BEEN BUCK ED. THIS LOG WAS 65 FEET LONG, HAVING A 9 INCH TOP DIAMETER AND 25 INCH BUTT DIA METER. AS THE LOGS STARTED TO MOVE OUT, THIS EXTRA LONG LOG PARTIALLY UPENDED. T HE RAISED END SWEPT AROUND INTO THE AREA WHERE THE CREW HAD MOVED. THEY HAD RETR EATED 50 FEET TO ONE SIDE, NOT IN BACK OF THE CHOKED LOGS, AS REQUIRED. THE END

Victims (3)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    1
    Source
    27
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    1
    Source
    27
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #3 Hospitalized Age 24 M

    Nature of injury
    12
    Part of body
    5
    Event type
    1
    Source
    27
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.