Photo Credit: WorkSafeBC
WorkSafeBC has released its latest work-related incident report and confirms there have been three fatalities related to direct harvesting in the province so far in 2019.
According to the August 2019 report, the body of one of these victims has yet to be recovered from the Lower Mainland. WorkSafeBC confirms, in April 2019, a worker was driving an employer’s shop truck on a forest service road to get to a logging camp. When the worker did not arrive at the camp a search was initiated. Co-workers found signs the truck had gone off the road and into a deep part of a large lake. Police were called to the scene and divers were tasked to search for the man. According to the report, neither the truck nor the worker have been located.
The BC Interior saw its fair share of workplace incidents during the first half of 2019 including several injuries at BC sawmills. In May, a maintenance worker at a lumber manufacturing facility was adjusting a planer when their hand came into contact with spinning blades of the planer head. The worker sustained injuries to their fingers as a result of the incident.
During the month of April, another worker at an Interior sawmill tried to clear an obstruction of wood debris from a planer, and sustained injuries when their hand came into contact with the rotating out feed roller drum. As a result, the worker crushed their hand and were rushed to hospital.
According to WorkSafeBC, in 2018 there were a total of 3 workplace related deaths for the entire year.
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