wa

st Issue, October

B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Zelba, 46-year-old faller, who was
ficials, the Company Safety Director,

ROAD GRADER which carried operator, Burton St. John, to his
death when the machine slipped off the edge of the road he was
grading and plunged into the bottom of this ravine.

was delivered by a coroner’s jury,
with the rider, that better in-
structions and supervision in the
piling of lumber be given.

Chamiss Bay

The second ‘accident took place
at Chamiss Bay, Sept. 21, where
faller Victor Zelba, 46 years of
age, died from injuries received
when pinned by a rolling log.

The victim, working with his
partner as a two-man set, was
bucking a log while his partner
was swamping out for the next
tree. His partner noticed that a
tree they had felled, (and not yet
bucked), lying slightly up hill,
started to move.

He shouted to Zelba warning
of the danger, but Zelba who
owned the power saw decided that
he had ample time’ to ‘pull his
saw into the clear before escap-
ing and in doing so, slipped, and

|was struck by the log which

pinned his leg against the log he
was bucking.

His partner attempted to buck
the log off, thinking it would let

the butt end drop, releasing Zel-
ba’s leg. This failed to happen,
so he ran for help to another set
of fallers working about 800 feet
away. They, by means of wedges,
managed to raise the log and free
the injured man’s leg.

Unfortunately, none of the fall-
ers were trained in first aid, so
they were forced to pack the in-
jured man out one mile to the
crummy through the bush, drive
him half a mile to the beach and
carry him another ten minutes
from there to the camp where he
received first aid.

A tourniquet was put on the
victim’s leg by the first aid at-
tendant and he was flown to Es-
peranzo Hospital where he died
shortly afterwards.

His death resulted from shock,
exposure and loss of blood.

Sproat Lake Division

The third fatal accident oc-
curred at the Sproat Lake Divi-
sion, Oct. 2, and claimed the life
of grader operator Burton St.

John.

EME, THREE.
OOF was 70

WE FROST (8. ON THE BUMIPLIN-

OTTOS OUT STOME COLD/
WILL THIS FALL GUY NEVER
HEED THE THINGS WES TOLD?

RECORD

There were no witnesses to this
accident, but from the evidence
found by Safety officials at the
scene. indications were that the
deceased was driving his grader
too close to the edge of the road
which skirted a cliff and the
grader toppled over into it.

The machine landed upright on
its wheels at the bottom of the
ravine, but St. John was ejected
from it by the violent motion and
killed by boulders dislodged by
the grader on its downward
flight.

The victim was found by two
logging truck drivers who imme-
diately put in a call for the am-
bulance and doctor, but it was
futile as St. John was already
dead.

Franklin River Camp “B”

The fourth accident involved a
speeder and a locomotive at
Franklin River’s Camp “B”, Sept.
20, in which six men were hospi-

talized.

The men out all night burning -
slash were returning to camp on
the speeder and through some
mix-up in signals were unaware
of the fact that the locomotive
was heading in their direction.

Quick work by the engineer of
the locomotive in slowing his ve-
hicle after sighting the speeder
is credited with the fact that
there was no loss of life.

The accidents described above
were reported fully to the B.C.
Lumber Worker by Safety Direc-
tor Gil Ingram, with photographs
taken on the spot. Deep regret
was expressed by the Local Union
officials that an almost perfect
safety record had been so tragic-
ally marred. Nevertheless, it was
the opinion of the same officials
that the circumstances surround-
ing each accident should be
studied throughout the industry,
as a warning against the unfore-
seen hazard. :

In the past, this operation has
taken a man working directly be-
hind the gangsaw, to turn the
sawn log into the proper position
on the transfer-table. He is in a
dangerous situation because of
the flying chunks and_ sticks
thrown out by the fast vertical
oscillation of the saws.

George Scroggie, general fore-
man, sawmills dayshift, at the
New Westminster operation of
Alaska Pine Co. Ltd., thought the

can fly.

evice Stops
Old Risks

Gangsaw dangers, which in general are considered
fewer than with circular rigs, result partly from certain
necessary actions which have to be performed in order to
smooth the flow of production to the next unit in the mill.
For example, each sawn log coming through a log gang has
to be laid in proper position for the edgerman to handle.

job could be done mechanically.
Together with head operating
millwright L, Eddy he worked
out a rough solution.

Durand Machine Works were
called in to design and build the
machine from the preliminary
sketches. The result is the tumn-
ing arm seen in the photographs
above, which mill personnel re-
port gives very satisfactory op-
eration.

unit turns logs, sawn by the gangsaw, into position for the edger-
man to handle without requiring a worker to stand in the danger
zone directly behind the fast-moving gang, where sticks and chunks