Harvesting Wind Damaged Trees: A Study of the Safety Implications for Fallers and Choker Setters
Authors
Mark J.M. Sullman
Liro Limited, New Zealand
Patrick M. Kirk
Liro Limited, New Zealand
Abstract
Hazards occurring to the fallers and chokersetters (breaker-outs) within cable yarder (hauler) crews working in windthr/ow salvage conditions were recorded. Fallers were exposed to considerably more and potentially more serious hazards than fallers working under normal conditions. The most hazardous parts of the faller's job were those of felling, clearing around the tree to be felled and clearing a path to the tree to be felled. The two most dangerous tree types to deal with were "hung-up" and "rootball trees". The choker setters were exposed to a similar number of hazards per cycle as choker setting in normal conditions, but a number of previously undocumented hazards were recorded. The majority of choking hazards (70%) occurred during the "wait" phase of choking with the most frequent hazard being "standing within one tree length of the turn". The information contained in this article may assist other contractors and forest companies faced with the difficult task of harvesting windthr/own trees.
