Sawmills and Wood Preservation
Industry Summary
Between 2014 and 2015, the Sawmills and Wood Preservation industry saw employment growth of only 1.94%. There are an average of 26 workers at each of the 3,563 establishments in the United States. On average over the last five years, the Sawmills and Wood Preservation industry has a slightly higher OSHA reported accident rate (47% more) than the broader Wood Product Manufacturing Industry
On Tuesday, January 29th 2019 OSHA reps took a report of a serious accident in Arbor Vitae, WI which had occured previously at Pukall Lumber Company, Inc.. A 30 year old man working as a Sawing machine operator was killed on the job when the
OSHA ID113086.015
Accident Date2019-01-29
Accident DegreeFatality
NarrativeAt 7:18 a.m. on January 29, 2019, Employee #1 was shoveling bark out from under a bark belt conveyor in the boiler area to clean up. A jam occurred on the small bark belt leading to bark piling up and spilling over the conveyor and under the stairway. Employee #1 raised the stairway and prepared to clean the spilled bark. Employee #1 knelt down next to an unguarded tail pulley for the outdoor small bark belt to shovel out bark that had spilled onto the ground underneath a staircase. Employee #1 was pulled into the unguarded conveyor when his clothing became entangled in the self cleaning pulley. Employee #1 was asphyxiated due to strangulation from their clothing becoming entangled in the self cleaning pulley.
On Tuesday, January 15th 2019 OSHA reps took a report of a serious accident in Deer River, MN which had occured previously at 98887 - Rajala Timber Company. A 25 year old employee had been killed when the
OSHA ID112831.015
Accident Date2019-01-17
Accident DegreeFatality
NarrativeAt 9:42 a.m. on January 14, 2019, a log became stuck or jammed on the hour glass line that was feeding logs to the cut off saw. The cut off saw operator shut down the line, retrieved a chainsaw and then made his way to the catwalk adjacent to the hour glass line. After getting to the catwalk on the west side of the hour glass line, the operator used the chainsaw to cut the jammed log in half at a point 22 feet up from the butt end of the log. At the time the operator was cutting the log, the south end of the log was lying along the rollers of the hour glass line while the north end, or butt end, of the log was being lifted by another log that was being held perpendicular to the jammed log by the Barko loader operator. The Barko operator believed the cut off saw operator directed him to lift the jammed log to take tension off of the jammed log and to provide a better area for the cutoff operator to cut through the jammed log. As the operator was cutting through the log, witnesses observed the 22 foot long butt end of the log fly up into the air and land on the ground on the west side of the catwalk. The operator's hat was also observed flying up and over this catwalk at that time. The cutoff saw operator was then found unresponsive on the ground in an area slightly east of the catwalk which was 8 feet and 3 inches above the ground. On January 17, 2019, the operator died as a result of the injuries sustained from the accident.
OSHA investigators arrived in Jacksonville, FL on Friday, November 30th 2018 and began an accident investigation after learning of an incident at West Fraser, Inc. which had occured on the same day. A 53 year old had been killed when the employee was struck and killed from falling lumber
OSHA ID111431.015
Accident Date2018-11-30
Accident DegreeFatality
NarrativeAt 7:15 a.m. on November 30, 2018, an employee was moving lumber around the yard with a forklift. The employee was standing next to his forklift on the outside wall of a lumber storage area when stacks of lumber from inside the storage area fell through the wall and crushed the employee standing on the outside. The employee died from internal injuries from the falling lumber.
OSHA Inspection Activity
Accident Rate
5 Year Average
36.18
Last 12 Months
0
Reporting Statistics
Inspection Records: 3109
207.1%
Violation Records:
Accident Records: 291