The owner of a logging company was killed while helping to load a log skidder onto a lowboy trailer due in part to the equipment operator’s lack of experience with the model being loaded.
An investigation by the Washington State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program revealed that the equipment operator had no previous experience using that model of skidder.
Operator accidentally turned on max speed switch
On Feb. 14, 2023, the 52-year-old logging company owner was at the yard of a heavy equipment dealer to pick up the log skidder.
The dealer hired a commercial machinery transporter to haul the skidder from the yard to a site where the logging company owner was working. The transporter brought a lowboy trailer to carry the skidder. An equipment operator who worked for the dealer was going to drive the skidder onto the trailer.
As the equipment operator began driving the skidder onto the lowboy, the owner of the logging company and the transporter were on opposite sides of the trailer acting as spotters. The owner was on the right side about 10 to 20 feet away from the skidder.
While maneuvering the skidder, the equipment operator got the machine’s bogie wheels uneven between the lowered flatbed deck and the trailer’s detached gooseneck. As he adjusted the wheels, the equipment operator inadvertently turned on the maximum speed switch on the skidder’s joystick before activating the travel trigger.
When the equipment operator activated the travel trigger, the skidder lurched back almost 10 feet partly off the deck and into the gooseneck. At the same time, the owner walked behind the skidder when it moved.
The equipment operator and the transporter could no longer see the owner, so they began looking around the trailer. They found him crushed and gasping under the skidder’s left tracked bogie wheels. The owner was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders.
No loading, unloading unless properly trained, certified
Investigators found that:
- there was no evidence that the skidder malfunctioned or had any mechanical defects
- the equipment operator had no previous experience using that model of skidder, and
- using the owner and transporter as spotters wasn’t part of the plan to load the skidder.
To prevent a tragic incident of this kind from happening, FACE investigators recommended:
- never allowing heavy equipment operators to load or unload any machine on a trailer unless they have been properly trained, evaluated and certified to operate the specific machine in question
- training spotters how to identify and stay out of vehicle blind areas, remain visible to operators, approach vehicles, avoid distractions and keep a safe distance between themselves and moving vehicles
- making sure operators and spotters pre-plan vehicle movements and agree on hand signals before loading or unloading equipment on a trailer
- designating one spotter to communicate with the operator to avoid confusion
- ensuring that operators stop immediately if visual contact is lost with a spotter
- developing accident prevention programs to include a job hazard analysis (JHA) policy that requires supervisors and workers to identify hazards for each specific type of equipment and trailer loading operation, and
- revising a JHA when changes in work plans, equipment, tools or environmental conditions introduce new hazards.
