Gaston, OR — A man was hospitalized following a logging accident in Gaston, Oregon, on Monday, January 19, 2015. The accident happened on Southwest Herr Road, near Henry Hagg Lake.
The man, identified as 54-year old Glen Ralston, was using a log yarder, which is used to bring cut down logs to a staging area before they’re loaded into trucks. A cable. used to bring the logs to the staging area snapped, which caused the yarder to fall over and trap Ralston inside the cab.
Emergency workers responding to the accident took about 40 minutes to remove Ralston from the machine.
Ralston was taken to OHSU Hospital. Officials say that his injuries were not life-threatening.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified of the accident, and are currently investigating.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Logging isn’t my business, but I’ve had a chance to get up close with machines that people have used on-the-job that have broken down and injured them. Reports say that a cable used to haul logs snapped. Why did it snap? Just about anyone injured in a work accident is going to find themselves eligible for workers’ comp benefits, but something like this could change things quite a bit. The benefits won’t change. If a worker is injured, he gets them. But if a machine malfunctioned, that could fall back on the manufacturer, and any injured worker would be within their rights to bring a claim against them. Hopefully OSHA’s investigation will be able to tell us more details about what happened here.
— Grossman Law Offices
