Logger's widow says her man could have been saved.

[stihlatit]

Came across this in my email and did a search. No previous posting. Seems this widow is out to fight for whats right, Intteresting read.

http://www.thetyee.ca/News/2005/12/09/AliveToday/

 

[Crofter]

TreeCo;

Do you suppose it refers to not having or using a felling lever.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

she said this week. "The WCB (Workers' Compensation Board) and the company still haven't managed to get in there to complete their investigation."

Ah, I like that. No investigation has been completed, she wasn't there, but she knows what went wrong and whose fault it is.


BTW, she's not a widow. Widows are WIVES who have lost their HUSBAND. Shack jobs don't count.

 

[Crofter]

I have no doubt that the more you move toward individual jobber status and piece work, the more you absolve the big companies of responsibilty and the more pressure there is for the individual to skip safety. Lets not crucify the poor guy that died or his spouse; we don't really know what happened. I would say that the story as presented here does not make the case intended and probably hurts the creditability of the poor logger image vs the big companies. I had some correspondence a few years ago with a canadian felller on the west coast and he said they were getting squeezed pretty badly. Not the same kind of job it used to be. He was looking for another line of work but it was all he had ever done!

 

[clearance]

Logging Fatality

The metal bar in question is a spare saw bar. There was a preliminary investigation report in the newspaper, (Vancouver Sun) that I read. The man had been falling for a heli-show, the investigation said that a tree hit him, definetly not cut by his partner. Maybe he was domino falling, from what the report said there was poor planning in the cut block. I figure this means that a lot of wood had to be felled against the lean. The inspector found dutchmans, low backcuts and other falling violations in the face. There was no escape trail slashed betwwen the partners along the falling boundary, nor was there a heli-pad. Of course many will try to shift blame onto the deceased, but it is an inherently dangerous business, made worse by enviromental constraints (cut block layout) and pressure to produce. I climb in old growth and see what has to be felled. Very challenging, hard work too fall these trees where the unexpected happens and all the variables cannot be controlled.

 

[smokechase II]

Clearance:
Can you post that newspaper article or sometime later post the official investigation report?
My curiosity is up but I've learned to hold my tongue until I actually know something. This doesn't mean I trust reports, just know to start from them.
Thanks

 

[Schultzz]

Ah, I like that. No investigation has been completed, she wasn't there, but she knows what went wrong and whose fault it is.


BTW, she's not a widow. Widows are WIVES who have lost their HUSBAND. Shack jobs don't count.

Man you're really cold. Just remember we seem to reap what we sow.

 

[xander9727]

Technically she is not a widow. While she may have cared very deeply for him she was not his wife.
Some of the blame has to fall on him and his partner.
There is nothing good about a death.

 

[stihlatit]

I have no doubt that the more you move toward individual jobber status and piece work, the more you absolve the big companies of responsibilty and the more pressure there is for the individual to skip safety. Lets not crucify the poor guy that died or his spouse; we don't really know what happened. I would say that the story as presented here does not make the case intended and probably hurts the creditability of the poor logger image vs the big companies. I had some correspondence a few years ago with a canadian felller on the west coast and he said they were getting squeezed pretty badly. Not the same kind of job it used to be. He was looking for another line of work but it was all he had ever done!

Your post is right on the money Crofter.

 

[stihlatit]

Technically she is not a widow. While she may have cared very deeply for him she was not his wife.
Some of the blame has to fall on him and his partner.
There is nothing good about a death.

Even though the blame appears that it should be placed upon him. The company was lax in supervising the safety of their people. Was he trained in all the safety aspects of the job. Why was he allowed to cheat if that is what he was doing. Why did the company allow them to work in such isolation that 45 minutes went by. Why was the rescue botched. She is out there making his death count so that she may save someone else from the same pitfall. She is standing up for the rest of the loggers. I think she is a brave lady. If anyone hears more on this issue from out there please post.

 

[stihlatit]

I will have to re read the whole article. I was ngoing by memory of what I read two days ago. Sometimes head is denser then the trees I cut.LOL.

 

[stihlatit]

You are correct Treeco they were under contract. She is after the way it is structured as the quote says below.

"That, said Geddes, merely supports the tendency of too many logging companies to shift the blame as much as possible to the failures of individual workers, whether their own contract employers or as direct employees of larger companies. It reduces, say industry critics, the larger companies' own responsibility for ensuring they provide a suitable safety-program "net saying that the sub contract allows the bigger contrators"

 

[clearance]

Here in B.C. if you have been with your woman for more than two years she is entitled to a widows benefit from the comp. board. There have been over 40 loggers killed at work here this year, more than double from last year. Crofter is right, people are getting sqeezed. Most people on this site are climbers and res. climbers at that, climbing, not falling. I have personally fell many trees, like 3-4' at the butt and 120-30 high max., that doesn't make me a faller. West coast fallers are falling trees that are like 8-10' at the butt and over 200' tall, on steep, steep sidehills with snags all over the place. Very hard, tough work that is way over my head and probably over the heads of99% of the people at this site. Armchair quarter back away, you don't have to fall it, couldn't fall it. This fatality a week stuff is big news here, finally, a simple web search will provide you with more details.

 

[Jumper]

BTW, she's not a widow. Widows are WIVES who have lost their HUSBAND. Shack jobs don't count.

If she lived with him for more than six months in this country she is a widow by virtue of common law. In that case he was her husband.

 

[smokechase II]

Clearance:
I heard a US Forest Service speaker from the Washington Office state that the US is using 60 billion board feet a year and Canada is supplying 1/3rd of that. Everyone realizes that this cannot last forever.
I was somewhat aware that the Canadian lumber is keeping US housing costs lower for now. But not aware of all the reasons why.
Hope you folks can get this figured out.
All the Best

 

[stihlatit]

Here in B.C. if you have been with your woman for more than two years she is entitled to a widows benefit from the comp. board. There have been over 40 loggers killed at work here this year, more than double from last year. Crofter is right, people are getting sqeezed. Most people on this site are climbers and res. climbers at that, climbing, not falling. I have personally fell many trees, like 3-4' at the butt and 120-30 high max., that doesn't make me a faller. West coast fallers are falling trees that are like 8-10' at the butt and over 200' tall, on steep, steep sidehills with snags all over the place. Very hard, tough work that is way over my head and probably over the heads of99% of the people at this site. Armchair quarter back away, you don't have to fall it, couldn't fall it. This fatality a week stuff is big news here, finally, a simple web search will provide you with more details.

Thanks for clearing that up clearance. I figured there was more than meets the eye here.