Inquest investigates death of skidder operator in B.C.

Most people who log have rolled a skidder sometime in their life, but the skidder roll that claimed the life of logger Francis Tucker in 2007 was no ordinary roll.

An inquest is taking place in Kamloops to look into the death of Tucker, as part of an effort by government to better understand safety in B.C.’s forest industry. A six-person jury overseen by forestry coroner Tom Pawlowski is hearing the inquest.

Tucker's 630b Tigercat skidder rolled more than 100 metres before coming to rest at the bottom of a hill in the North Cascades, about 30 kilometres from the former Coquihalla highway toll booth.

Tucker's son, D'Eric Tucker, witnessed the accident, and is testifying at the inquiry.

From the truck were he was working far below, D’Eric saw the 20,000 kilogram skidder roll four times, before smashing into a fir tree more than a metre in diameter and snapping it. The machine gathered momentum as it continued down a slope with a grade as much as 60 per cent.

Equipped with a small blade and grappler on the other end for grabbing bunches of logs, the skidder flipped end-over-end twice and rolled several times more before coming to a stop at the bottom.

Tucker did not survive the trauma. The skidder's cage was broken, the steel door was bent, the tires were ripped off the rims, and the 4kg fire extinguisher was pulled out of its clamped bracket and was loose in the cab.

The jury at the inquiry will attempt to determine what caused the death and may recommend measures to prevent further deaths.

WorkSafeBC limits forestry operations to slopes of 35% or less. The slope Tucker was working on was estimated to be within the safe limit, at 26%.

D'Eric suspects the machine may have hit a hole and stump at the same time on different corners, causing it to upset.

The inquest continues today and is scheduled to be completed this week.

Source:

Inquest looks at logging death (The Daily News)