verybody who has worked in the logging industry knows about its inherent dangers. And career log- gers can remember people they have worked with, over the years, that have been killed or injured on the job. But for the 247 loggers at MacMillan Bloedel’s Kelsey Bay on Northern Van- couver Island, the unfathomable has taken place. In an 11 month period through May of this year, three of their I.W.A. Brothers were killed on the job in separate incidents. For the families and friends of the accident vic- tims it has been an unprecedented year of tragedy. Three men, 28 year old rigging slinger Gordon Clark, 37 year old dryland sort bucker Ola Rabien, and 61 year old faller Eino Manninen, lost their lives in accidents that have rocked the I.W.A. and forest industry. No one, in current memory, can recall such sep- arate and tragic events which have occurred in the same logging division in such a short time period. The deaths of Brothers Clark, Rabien and Man- ninen have been more than enough to cause seri- ous investigations of the logging practices at the Kelsey Bay Division, which is situated in the woodlands surrounding Sayward, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, about 75 km. north of Campbell River. “We have been absolutely devastated by these fatalities,” says Local 363 President Sy Pederson. “We have never been confronted by such over- whelming events. It has been incredibly hard to deal with the fatalities of men who were so well respected by their fellow workers and the commu- nity.” : Brother Pederson says that at least one of the tragic fatalities has sparked a lot of soul searching at Kelsey Bay Division and has called into serious question, the work practices promoted by MacMil- Jan Bloedel. Neil Menard, National First Vice President of IL.W.A. CANADA, and national officer responsible for occupational health and safety, says that the three fatalities should serve as a wake-up call for MB. He says that the company should completely re-examine occupational health and safety proce- dures at all it its logging and manufacuturing oper- ations. “The investigation into the safety conditions at Kelsey Bay have revealed that MB management had put production as a priority, ahead of worker safety,” says Brother Menard. “As an organization we are speaking loudly and clearly against this mentality. It should be done away with once and for all.” YOUNG MAN’S DEATH SPARKS INQUIRY There were some warning signs in the air long before hooktender Gordon Clark was struck by a flying log chunk on July 5, 1995. Senior union workers had been telling MacBlo Three union Brothers lost their lives at MB’s Kelsey Bay logging division in an eleven month period, rocking the |.W.A. and the forest industry. management, headed by Division Manager Stan Zuke, General Foreman Ray Lorenzo and Area Foreman Walter Baukakis, that production on a long- line steel spar side was be- ing pushed too much by the company. MB was getting about 6 loads a day from the long- line machine as the rigging crew was setting hot and cold chokers on both sides of the lines. The younger crew was MB's pride and joy. There were repeatedly praised by company management as a pretty hot commodity and were even given a special dinner in recogni- tion of their high produc- tivity. But to get the high pro- duction they were logging dangerously. They were, in fact, logging in harm’s way. “After Gordie was killed and we did the investiga- tion, it was plain for all of us to see that the accident was highly preventable,” says sub-local union chair- man Terry Kachanoski. “For whatever reason, they (MB) had been ignor- ing or refusing to enforce WCB rules and regulations and one of our union Brothers was killed.” An investigation re- vealed that a wooded down turn of logs was being pulled in at a sharp angle to a skyline carriage. Because of the angle of the pull and the fact that the logs weren't being picked up properly, the small 5/8” chokers began to snap. Two chokers broke and one fell out of the sky- car bull hook. A log chunk from the back choker broke off and went torpedoing across to the oppo- site side of the skyline road were it struck Gordie Clark. Brother Clark probably saw the chunk coming and could not get out of the way in time. A choker- man who was beside him was able to duck out of the way in time. Another chokerman who had just set his snare was not struck. The skyline rigging crew was working on both sides of the line, as had become common and ac- cepted practice. They were pushing production and MB management was aware of what was go- ing on, day in and day out. Clark’s death became the catalyst for a full in- quiry into logging practices at Kelsey Bay. An in- vestigation conducted by noted labour consultant Vince Ready, between August 22 and early Sep- tember of 1995, examined safety in the yarding and loading department at Kelsey Bay. Ready’s report, in which he investigated acci- dent sites and inter- FALLER KILLED BY WIDOW-MAKER Eino Manninen, only a couple of years away from retirement, was a textbook faller who had worked for MB since 1964. If anyone could lay the wood out straight and buck it clean, it was Eino. Ona May afternoon, he had finished the backcut ona balsam and, as it was falling, he was suddenly struck by a hemlock branch that plunged down from an adjacent tree. s Fallers look up all of the time to see if anything is coming down. It is not clear whether Eino did not see the chunk coming or couldn’t get away from it in time. He suffered broken bones in the chest area, fell unconcious and could not recover from massive internal bleeding. It was the type of accident that has happened to many fallers in the past. THREE MEN RESPECTED BY ALL . Gordon Clark had only been married for a year and had been planning a family with his wife at the time of his untimely death. He was very popular in the Comox Valley and Campbell River area where he lived, the son of Gordon Clark Sr., a former Lo- cal 363 Officer and Executive Board Member. Gordon was a real all around sportsman and was a great ball player. “They basically don’t come any nicer or any bet- ter than Gordie,” says Brother Kachanoski. “He’d do anything to help people and give you the shirt off his back to help out.” . Ola Rabien is remembered as an outdoors per- son who lived for activities in all seasons. He loved to go sailing and snowboarding and was al- ways on the go. Ola got along well with his fellow workers and enjoyed life. He was especially skilled at solving cross-word puzzles. Today in the dryland sort shed where the work- ers take their lunches and coffee breaks there is a special cross-word puzzle with Ola’s picture in it. It was made by one of his fellow workers as a trib- ute to Ola’s memory. Eino Manninen was a dedicated family man who commuted to Kelsey Bay from his home in east Vancouver. Each weekend he would drive up and down the Island Highway to be at home on the weekends. He moved from Finland to Canada in 1959 and worked hard to raise a family which is now grown. Eino was saving a little more money for retirement and he was second oldest worker on the seniority list at the time of his death. He got along well with everybody and did his Job professionally day in and day out. READY REPORT REVEALS HISTORY OF CONCERNS The investigation by Vince Ready took a good hard look at yarding and loading activities prior to and leading up to Brother Clark’s fatality. Ready conducted over 200 interviews and accepted sub- missions from both the union and the company. What he found proved to be disturbing. There were a number of incidents preceeding the fatality that revealed unsafe work practices by some yard- ing crews. In September of 1993, Clark suffered a broken Jeg when hit by a chunk while standing in front of atum after going down the hill to pick up logs. In the same time period there were complaints that the crew was overloading the sky car. Ready also noted, in viewed numerous indi- viduals, was released on December 7, 1995, about 6 months before Brother Manninen’s accidental death in the falling de- partment. DEATH IN THE DRYLAND SORT A month prior the Brother Clark’s fatality, Ola Rabien was accident-' ly struck and crushed by a log loader at the Kelsey It has been incredibly hard to deal with the fatalities of men who were so well re- spected by their fellow work- ers and the community. — Sy Pederson, President Local 363 his report that there were several long-line operators that did not complete training. One of those individuals asked to get off of the machine as he said the turns were being wood- ed down and he did not feel like he had control. In April and May of 1994 the longline crew moved to a new setting which maps revealed Bay dryland sort. It was a very busy day and the sort was plugged with wood. Wood haul- ing was steady and there were a lot of tight areas around the sort. Crossing the sort in a heavy traffic area, Brother Rabien was accidently run over by a 988 log load stacker. He was walking across with his power saw protecting his face from a strong wind. The saw restricted his vision, and with ear muffs on, he was less likely to hear the loader. The loader operator had limited vision and couldn’t see Rabien who was swept under the ma- chine by a pre-wrapped bundle as it rounded a cor- ner. ‘The accident was the first of the three fatalities. Mike Luzyzyn, a union rep on the joint Accident Prevention Committee and who works at the dry- land sort says the sort is “like a race track...action is non-stop.” would take about 9-10 weeks to log. The crew offered to finish the set- ting in six weeks. The company said if they could, the workers would get a special dinner in celebra- tion. Brother Kachanoski said that MB tried to isolate the longline crew and make them feel as if they were a special group. “If you take a bunch of younger people who re- ally don’t know the ropes and throw them out there and tell them to get a certain amount of pro- duction and you will buy them a dinner — that’s just no way to run a camp,” he says. Kachanoski says that MB kept the younger crew away from senior people who would tell them that you don’t have to run to get a log. “If you try to cut comers in this industry and do things that you're not supposed to - you kill people - it’s that plain and simple,” he says. Continued on next page eer TRS 8/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1996