Date of incident: January 2022
Notice of incident number: 2022155500002
Employer: Sawmill

Incident summary
While working on foot in a log yard, a worker (a chargehand) was struck by a wheeled bucket loader moving wood waste product. The incident was not witnessed, and the chargehand sustained fatal injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Worker struck by bucket loader. The chargehand came to be positioned ahead of the approaching bucket loader and was struck by it. The operator of the loader did not see the chargehand. In part because the incident was not witnessed, the investigation was unable to determine why the chargehand had been in the path of the approaching loader.

Contributing factors

• View obstruction associated with loader.
  • The loader’s bucket attachment was full of wood waste. Due to the view obstruction created by the loaded bucket, the operator was unable to see fully in front of the loader as he drove forward and did not see the chargehand when the chargehand came to be in the loader’s path. The operator only became aware of the incident after the injured chargehand was discovered by another worker.
  • View obstructions ahead of a loader that limit an operator’s field of vision are inherent to this type of equipment and are well known.
  • To assist in reducing the view obstruction area, various factory-installed options and aftermarket equipment such as forward-facing mirrors, cameras, and sensors are available. If installed on the loader, such equipment might have provided the operator with an opportunity to see the chargehand, and thereby prevented the incident.
• Inadequate safety controls.
  • The investigation determined that the employer recognized the risks of mobile equipment operating in the same work area as workers on foot and had in place controls intended to reduce those risks.
  • The investigation found no evidence that either the chargehand or the operator was not following the safe work procedures or other controls that were in place to lower the risk of collision.
  • Given that the two workers are believed to have been adhering to the control measures as prescribed, and that the chargehand was struck by the loader, the control measures were found to be inadequate. A policy prohibiting workers on foot from accessing areas where mobile equipment was operating might have prevented the incident.

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