@ @ Forest fatalities down but serious injuries are high IN 2005 THERE WERE 43 BC forest workers killed in trau- matic accidents. As this issue goes to the press, there have been 11 so far in 2006. That's a drop of 32 deaths, quite a change. Why such a large difference? It’s hard to say with any certainty. But one thing is for sure. The Steelworkers’ Stop the Killing Campaign, coordinated by District 3, can take a z good deal of the credit for pointing out that the car- nage in the indus- try has become a large scale public issue that politi- BY RON CORBEIL cians and employers have to address. The heat that our union has put on the government, employers and government agencies has been unprecedent- ed. Due to our Stop the Killing campaign there is now a dedi- cated forestry coroner who will review all industry deaths, an “independent review’ of government policies as they relate to forest industry safety and security, and there are to be joint investigations of fatalities with protocol developed by both the WCB and the RCMP. In short, our campaign has made a major difference and we are not finished yet. We continue to lobby the government for a special prose- cutor to take on forest industry cases and for a committee that would mandatorily implement coroners’ recommendations. We have effectively shown to the public and the govern- ment that workers are dying in droves due to the “culture of desperation” and that industry speed-up, forced by govern- ment-assisted industry restructuring is a major culprit to ris- ing fatatilities and permanent injuries and that workers employed in the non-union sector are more likely to be killed. One forest industry death is too many. Eleven, so far this year, is unacceptable and remains an indictment of the industry. We also have to take special note of the fact that there have been nearly 120 injuries including “serious injuries” which are those that include spinal cord injuries and paralysis, head and brain injuries, effects of near or total blindness and other permanent disabilities. The num- bers will be higher when more WCB claims are recognized. The forest industry is a long way from eliminating need- less death and injury and more pressure from our union will help make those responsible make changes necessary. Ron Corbeil is a Steelworkers staff representative Island loggers waited for two hours for chopper DURING THE INQUEST into the death of “Turbo” Ted Gramlich the jury heard the brutal reality ofhow Gramlich died and the fact that a proper safety net which might have saved him did not materialize. Gramlich was struck in the head and body while probably trying to Ted Gramlich ae ela re tree that was leaned against a cut up tree that didn’t fall first. Gramlich was working in isolation as part of a five man falling crew that was spread out. His falling partner, Mark Lee, discovered him at least an hour since their last radio check. Because the partners were a long dis- tance from one another on a steep incline, it took Lee a half hour to locate Gramlich, as he detected Gramlich’s radio. Lee radioed for a rapid helicopter evacuation but, since choppers were fogged in, the men waited for two hours on the hill. Ted bled to death as Lee valiantly tried CPR and dug under- neath Gramlich’s trapped body to keep him warm. The helicopter that evacuat- ed Ted Gramlich came from Lake Cowichan. Had the men knew that choppers were to be fogged out, they may not have worked. During the inquest, Andy King, leader of the USW’s Health, Safety and Environment Department, asked falling contractor Brock Brown if TimberWest, whose license his firm was working for, had a look at Brown's safety policies prior to designating him as the prime contractor. Brown's com- pany had two acci- dents in the past year, including a fatality. TimberWest did little to investigate Brown's | _ | company. fl PAs Steelworkers Andy King District 3 Director Steve Hunt says the union pushed for and got the inquest into Gramlich’s death and that all industry fatalities must go before a coroner's inquest and jury. “Ted Gramlich should be alive today,” says Hunt. “He died because the entire system, that should have saved him, failed miserably. No one should ever die to make a living and certainly not the way Ted died.” lg N a) THE ALLIED WORKER DECEMBER 2006 T 7