Category Archives: Health & Safety

NANAIMO — The province’s workplace safety authority confirmed a TimberWest employee was found dead in a vehicle south of Nanaimo about 10 p.m. on Monday. “The worker was not a firefighter. Early information indicates the worker was making a delivery to forest wildfire fighters,” said Trish Knight Chernecki, a WorkSafe B.C. spokeswoman. She said a WorkSafe investigator was sent to the scene. Knight Chernecki said the death was not related to a crash, but could not give further details, including the person’s name, age and gender. …Crews were battling a new fire at Maple Mountain in the Cowichan Valley on Wednesday. Some residents had to evacuate their homes. …It was the fourth fire — among 462 wildfires burning across B.C. — to break out on Vancouver Island in the past few days.

[The Tree Frog News received the following updated commentary directly from TimberWest: TimberWest is aware of a medical incident that occurred involving an employee of a contractor working for the Coastal Fire Centre during its ongoing actions on the Nanaimo Lakes fire. An investigation is currently underway and we continue to follow directives of the BC Wildfire Service while they have command of this fire.]

Vancouver is famous for its beautiful summers. …Last year those mountains vanished. …Today, hundreds of fires are burning across the province — and indeed the continent — as heat records are being smashed around the globe. And though their smoke has yet to mar our coastline this year, that time will surely come again. As members of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, we are deeply concerned about the health consequences of increased forest fires due to climate change. …While no single forest fire can be attributed directly to climate change, shifting weather patterns and climate zones that parch wetlands and forests and expand the range of tree-killing pests, as well as increase the frequency of lightning strikes, are creating ideal conditions for ignition and fire spread. …It’s time to wake up and smell the smoke.

The BC Coroners Service has ruled the death of a motorcyclist who was killed in a logging truck incident in Whistler in fall 2013 was accidental. But the investigation also found that the logging truck was going 32 kilometres per hour over the speed limit and was 3,570 kilograms overweight. Hugh Craig Roberts, 65, was riding his motorcycle northbound on Highway 99 … when a southbound logging truck lost its load into the northbound lanes. …A Trucking Advisory Group (TAG) was developed as a response to the Roberts accident, as well as a number of other rollovers around the province, said Rob Moonen, CEO of the BC Forest Safety Council (BCFSC), the organization responsible for the TAG. …”One of the things we look to is the number of high-profile roll-overs,” said Moonen. “In 2013, we had 51 in the province, and in 2017 that number is 15.” The goal, he said, is to bring that number to zero.

Len MacCharles wants you to develop a family evacuation plan and put together a 72-hour survival kit. He wants you to do it now. “A wildfire impacting Nelson: it is not if, it’s when,” Nelson’s fire chief told last week’s Wildfire and Climate Change Conference. “It is highly likely. The impacts to health, property, the environment, people, is going to be pretty serious.” It’s hard to predict what that fire will look like, he said. …Several years ago, forest fire expert Bruce Blackwell told Nelson city council that Nelson was on his “top ten list of communities in B.C. for the next big fire.” “That was not just an off-the-cuff remark.” …MacCharles said Nelson is developing a wildfire management plan, two main components of which are fuel treatment and the Fire Smart program.

Ken Pedersen

Ken Pedersen, supply manager for Canfor Forest Management Group, received the 1st MaryAnne Arcand Memorial Safety Award at the Interior Safety Conference (ISC) held last month in Kamloops, part of the 60th Interior Logging Association’s annual convention and trade show. Ken was presented with the award by Matt Franks and Steve Mueller, on behalf of the ISC. …Matt and Steve said it was fitting that Ken be the first recipient of the award. Ken is a founding member of the Trucking and Harvesting Advisory Group (TAG) which formed in 2013 and has always been a strong supporter of improving safety within the industry, demonstrated by his leadership with TAG as well as with his employer, Canfor.

The Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical, or TEAAM, recently launched, bringing a new not-for-profit model to providing helicopter healthcare to remote B.C. The society is focused on bringing advanced emergency medical care to remote worksites and other hard-to-reach settings in B.C., and it is badly needed, according to president Miles Randell. “There’s a gap in pre-hospital care delivery in B.C. in remote settings,” he said. …To illustrate the need for the service, Randell referenced a February 2017 report from the B.C. forest safety ombudsman on emergency helicopters in B.C. The report includes an example of a logging industry worker injured in Haida Gwaii in 2014. After his leg was crushed by a fallen tree, it took over five hours to transport the man to a hospital in Queen Charlotte.

VANCOUVER—B.C. labour law experts say two decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada “put employers on notice” that… they could be responsible for the safety and rights of people who aren’t traditional employees. …The Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C. penalized forestry company West Fraser Mills for the death of a tree faller who died on land owned by the company. Although owners always have some liability with respect to workers on their property, what was new about this decision was that the majority on the high court agreed with the WCB board decision to fine West Fraser Mills under rules meant for employers — a precedent that may be referenced in the future in B.C. and other jurisdictions. …Legal experts say the decisions should be of concern to employers — especially those who may have tried to delegate their liability by contracting companies.

Nanaimo, BC — Today, TimberWest held its Safety Leadership and Environmental awards in Nanaimo, BC and recognized the achievements of five outstanding contractors. “Our contractors help coordinate the activities of close to 1,000 people out in the woods every day across a variety of terrain and through changing weather conditions.  Safe and environmentally responsible outcomes are only possible through their unrelenting focus and commitment to improve.” said, Jeff Zweig, President and CEO of TimberWest. “Each of the award winners has contributed in an exceptional way to achieving better safety or environmental outcomes.  We greatly appreciate their efforts.” In 2017, TimberWest achieved a below coastal industry average medical incident rate of 2.01 per 200,000 hours worked; a 39% decrease in medical incident rate year-over-year. And, TimberWest received zero major environmental non-conformances’ on its independent environmental audit conducted by KPMG.

Although B.C.’s air quality is good compared to other places around the world, it’s an ongoing concern for many areas in the north, especially due to wildfires, says an expert. In addition to the emissions released by wildfires, residential wood burning and road dust contribute to poor air quality in northern B.C. according to Sarah Henderson, senior environmental health scientist with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. “In a lot of ways we’re doing a great job at bringing emissions under control… then we have this looming threat of wildfire,” Henderson told Daybreak North’s Carolina de Ryk. …Henderson was the keynote speaker at the North Central B.C. Clean Air Forum in Prince George, where she discussed finding ways to continue improving air quality.

Logging truck safety is always an issue in forestry communities. Powell River has been fortunate not to have a recent accident involving one of the large vehicles, but odds are it will happen eventually. City of Powell River councillor Maggie Hathaway said as much when the issue of log haulers and public safety was brought before committee of the whole on May 1. Jerry Eskes, representing a group of Cranberry ratepayers, 25 of whom were in the public gallery, pushed for action on logging trucks going through their neighbourhood. Eskes said rigs from logging activity in the Inland and Haslam lakes area use Cranberry Street a dozen times a day. He said he sees a colossal problem for the city to try to come to terms with full and empty logging trucks going through the city to log sorts north and south of town.

Manual tree falling is the most frequent cause of fatal accidents in motor-manual forest harvesting operations and is recognized as one of the most dangerous occupations worldwide. British Columbia is no exception and given the unique and diverse forest ground, climate, and stand conditions around the province, the estimated 2,000 active fallers often face demanding and dangerous tasks. WorkSafeBC has long recognized the potential of mechanization as a means of improving safety in forest operations. The recent rapid developments and implementation of winch-assist technology have provided a platform for wider application of mechanized operations. …WorkSafeBC solicited proposals to address the following question : Under What Conditions is Mechanical Harvesting Going to be a Safer Alternative to Manual Tree Falling in B.C.? …FPInnovations completed a …comprehensive report entitled Mechanized Harvesting, a Safer Alternative to Manual Tree Falling.

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, which found a forestry company liable for the death of a contract worker employed on its premises. In West Fraser Mills Ltd. v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal et al., the Supreme Court upheld a claim of workers’ compensation against a non-employer, West Fraser Mills, which as the license holder of the area of the forest where the accident occurred was the “owner” of the workplace as defined in Part 3 of B.C.’s Workers Compensation Act. A tree faller died after being struck by a rotting tree while working within the area of a forest licence held by the appellant.