OSHA Investigation Results in Sixteen Violations for Logging Company
A and S Tree Service Faces $44,000 in fines.
OSHA has issued two willful, 11 serious and three other-than-serious violations to A and S Tree Service as part of a local emphasis program in Charleston, W.Va., focused on logging. In 2015, 27 percent of all work-related fatalities in West Virginia occurred in logging.
Willful violations were issued to the Clay, W.Va.-based company for permitting employees to ride as passengers on a dozer without assigned seating and safety belts, as well as exposing employees to crushing injuries. A worker was also exposed to the possibility of severe cuts or lacerations after allowing the employee to drop start a chainsaw. Serious violations were given due to an employee not wearing required boots while operating a chainsaw; an employee not wearing face protection; a bulldozer operating on rough terrain without a seatbelt; and trees chopped without proper undercuts to help control the tree's fall.
"Loggers who manually fell trees with chainsaws are exposed to the greatest logging risks, making it critical for employers to ensure safeguards are in place to prevent injuries or death," said Prentice Cline, director of OSHA’s Charleston Office. "Compliance with OSHA's logging standard will eliminate many of the fatal accidents and greatly reduce the number of lost work day injuries occurring in the logging industry."