I can’t believe it has been over a decade since the Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s (WPAC’s) Safety Committee was established. Our initial focus was combustible dust in response to tragic sawmill explosions in British Columbia. Over the years, activities have expanded to all health and safety matters. The committee’s mission is “to improve the wood pellet industry’s collective safety performance, earn a reputation with regulatory authorities and the public as an industry that is highly effective at managing safety, and learn and share best practices regarding safety.” As we enter 2025, I want to reflect on a few past successes and share our Work Plan for the year. …New to 2025: Along with the continuing safety initiatives listed above, we will review the impacts of previous safety initiatives, take a closer look at mental health and musculoskeletal injuries (MSI) and update winter fibre truck loading/unloading standard operating procedures. The WPAC Safety Committee meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 11 am (PST). Members include the BC Forest Safety Council, the wood pellet and biofuel industry and academic institutions. To read the Work Plan and sign up, please visit pellet.org.
At its November 2024 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s 
A division of a forestry and construction company with an office in Prince George lost a review of an arbitrator’s decision that awarded fallers $4,000 each for breach of privacy. At issue was the installation of dash cameras in the company’s four-wheel drive pickups in Campbell River… They began installing the dash cameras in February 2023, prompting the United Steelworkers, Local 1-1937 (USW) to file a grievance. They stated the purpose for the rear-facing dash camera included “road conditions not seen by the forward-facing camera” and monitoring “distractions in cab – eating, texting, smoking, horseplay.” USW did not take issue with collection of GPS information or video from the forward-facing cameras while the crew bus was in motion. Its grievance was about the audio and video collected by the rear-facing camera and video by the forward-facing camera while the vehicle was idle.
In 2008, BCFSC introduced the Leadership in Safety Awards, celebrating individual safety achievements in forestry. Award recipients are recognized in three categories including safety in harvesting, manufacturing and lifetime achievement. Nominations for leaders in forestry safety can be an individual, crew, team, division, contractor, company, supplier, consultant, trainer, etc. for outstanding safety leadership or achievements. There are three award categories for Leadership Safety. The Cary White Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to someone who has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to improving safety awareness. The Forest Safety Most Valuable Player recognizes an individual or group that has made a notable contribution to forest industry safety within their operation or company. And finally, the Manufacturing Safety Most Valuable Player recognizes an individual or group that has made a notable contribution to wood products manufacturing safety within their operation or company. Deadline for 2025 nominations is September 23, 2025.
While details are minimal to this point, the BC Forest Safety Council is reporting a logging truck driver was killed outside of Logan Lake sometime Monday. According to the Safety Council’s bulletin issued Wednesday, the person was killed December 16th while attempting to “tow a log truck that had spun out on an icy road.” The details on a specific location, as well as the circumstances surrounding the person’s death, have not been detailed. …A separate bulletin issued by the BC Forest Safety Council this week also highlights the dangers that forestry workers face while on the front-lines of felling operations. It points to two separate, non-fatal incidents involving heavy machinery being used in different operations in the Southern Interior this fall, including one near Scotch Creek in the Shuswap. Both involve harvesting in steep-sloped areas.
On December 16th, a log truck driver was fatally injured during an attempt to tow a log truck that had spun out on an icy road. This incident occurred in an area near Logan Lake, BC. WorkSafeBC and the Coroners Service are investigating this incident. We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and our sympathies to all those affected by this incident. This is the second harvesting fatality of 2024… We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and our sympathies to all those affected by this incident.
At its November 2024 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s 
OTTAWA, ON – In 2023, Nova Scotia experienced one of its worst wildfire seasons, leading to extensive damage to residences, small businesses, farms, municipalities, and provincial sites, and the evacuation of more than 16,000 people. Just over a month later, the province experienced extreme rainfall that led to the worst flooding the province has experienced in 50 years. This follows the significant damage to public and private infrastructure and prolonged power outages caused by storm Dorian across the province in 2019. The Government of Canada, announced payments of almost $67 million to Nova Scotia through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program, to assist with response and recovery costs associated with the wildfires in 2023, the extreme rainfall and flooding in summer 2023, and storm Dorian in 2019.
The more researchers learn about wildfire smoke, the more worrisome the picture gets. Smoke contains microscopic particles known as PM 2.5 because the PM (particulate matter) measures 2.5 microns or less — small enough to easily wiggle its way into our lungs and then into our bloodstreams. Researchers have already connected the particulate matter in wildfire smoke to a higher risk of strokes, heart disease, respiratory disease, lung cancer and other serious conditions. And the harmful effects don’t stop there. 2024 was a banner year for research on wildfire smoke and its impact on health, from brain functioning to fertility. While there’s still a lot more to learn, wildfire smoke is thought to be especially insidious compared to other sources of air pollution; its smaller particle size, intermittent spikes and higher concentration of inflammatory compounds make it more dangerous. This year’s new findings are disturbing. …New estimates predict 125 million Americans will face unhealthy air from wildfires by 2054.
Firefighters in southern California are battling the Palisades and Eaton Fires. …Residents of many fire-prone areas have grown familiar with the orange, apocalyptic haze of wildfire smoke as these blazes have become more common because of climate change. Such smoke can contain an unpredictable cocktail of chemicals associated with heart and lung diseases and even cancer, which is the leading cause of death among firefighters. Here’s what makes wildfire smoke so dangerous. When trees, shrubbery and other organic matter burn, they release carbon dioxide, water, heat—and, depending on the available fuel, various volatile compounds, gaseous pollutants and particulate matter. Those tiny particles, which become suspended in the air, can include soot (black carbon), metals, dust, and more. If they’re smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, they can evade our body’s natural defenses when inhaled, penetrating deep into the lungs and triggering a wide variety of health problems.
SEATTLE – The wildfire smoke that blankets much of the American West each summer is likely more harmful than previously understood, especially to older people, scientists found. Research announced this week, and led by scientists at the University of Washington, discovered that prolonged exposure to the ultrafine particles in wildfire smoke heightens the risk of dementia for those 60 and older. …Joan Casey, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Washington said, not only are older people at risk with the increasing exposure to wildfire smoke, but so too are those who can’t access air quality warnings, afford filtration or avoid outdoor exposure throughout the fire season. Casey partnered with scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, the University of California in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. …Dementia isn’t the only risk associated with wildfire smoke. Those with prolonged exposure could also suffer from respiratory or cardiovascular problems.
Fort Collins, CO — A team of researchers from Colorado State University is recruiting 100 active male wildland firefighters for a two-year study of the reproductive health effects of wildfire smoke. Lead researcher Luke Montrose, an assistant professor in CSU’s Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, previously found a link between wildfire smoke exposure and altered sperm in mice. For the new study, the researchers will examine semen samples taken from participants before, during and after the wildfire season to look at sperm count, motility and evidence of epigenetic changes. In addition, the team plans to produce targeted messaging on reproductive health for workers in the wildland firefighting field. Such messaging has “historically been generic and needs to improve,” researcher Ashley Anderson, associate professor in CSU’s Department of Journalism and Media Communication, said in a press release.
Wood burning stoves are now the UK’s biggest source of toxic particles in air pollution and could be giving you cancer, according to a new report. A third of all PM2.5 emissions now come from log and coal-burning fires in homes. PM2.5 particles are too small to be filtered out and studies suggest they enter the bloodstream and have been linked to serious heart disease and lung cancer. One analysis of 17 studies found breathing in PM2.5 particles increases the risk of dying from lung cancer by 11 per cent. One US study found using a wood-burning stove indoors increase the chance of women developing lung cancer by 43 per cent. Another US study found people who use their wood burner for more than 30 days a year increase their lung cancer risk 68 per cent.