Text from the OSHA Logging Standard Amendment issued
September 8, 1995 in the Federal RegisterParagraph (h)(1)(ii)
-- Unfamiliar or Unusually Hazardous Conditions
This section requires that the immediate supervisor be consulted for approval when
unfamiliar or unusually hazardous conditions are encountered before cutting is commenced.
OSHA included this provision in the final rule because the record indicates that many
injuries occur when inexperienced employees encounter unfamiliar situations, and even when
experienced loggers believe they can handle particularly hazardous situations on their own
(Ex. 2-1, 4-63, 4-64, 26A).
OSHA was requested to clarify the situations which are intended to be covered by this
provision. While OSHA cannot provide an exhaustive list of the situations which may
necessitate the employee consulting with a supervisor, there are certain situations which
are clearly covered by this paragraph. These situations include worsening weather
conditions (e.g., weather changes which begin to impair the logger's vision); deepening
snow or mud which begins to affect a logger's mobility; felling very large or very tall
trees; cutting trees whose lean, structure, or location make it difficult to fell in the
desired or safest direction; and using a driver tree to fell a danger tree. These are
situations in which loggers have been killed or severely injured because the conditions
caused unexpected results during felling (Ex. 2-1, 4-63, 4-64, 26A). When these conditions
arise, adding the supervisor's knowledge, training, and experience to the decision making
process should help minimize the hazards to which the logger may be exposed.
In addition to such consultation, it is also important in training for employers to
train their new employees that when they encounter situations with which they have not
dealt before, they need to work with the supervisor to safely handle the situation. This
concept should also be reinforced in regular safety and health meetings.
Paragraph (h)(1)(iii) -- Felling Distances
The final rule requires that while manual felling is in progress, yarding machines must
not be operated within two tree lengths of the trees being manually felled. OSHA's
intention was to assure that neither the yarding machine operator nor the manual feller is
injured because of the independent actions of the other. For example, the feller may not
be conscious of the fact that the yarding machine operator has entered the area to remove
the tree which the feller has just cut. This work practice requirement helps to assure
that yarding machine operators are not hit by other trees the feller or felling team has
begun to cut.
After the final rule was published, OSHA was requested to clarify whether this
provision prohibits tree pulling by teams of employees. Tree pulling was not intended to
be prohibited under paragraph (h)(1)(iii). Indeed, paragraph (h)(1)(iv) addresses tree
harvesting by employee teams, and sets forth procedures which must be followed where a
team is necessary to fell a tree. In any event, OSHA is correcting the final rule to
provide an explicit exception to paragraph (h)(1)(iii) for tree pulling operations. OSHA
is also revising the compliance directive to indicate that the procedures governing team
felling also apply in tree pulling operations.
Paragraph (h)(1)(ix) -- Domino Felling
The final rule prohibits domino felling. OSHA defined domino felling in the final rule
as "[t]he partial cutting of `multiple trees' which are left standing and then
`pushed over with a pusher tree'." In the preamble OSHA explained that domino felling
was a method of attempting to fell a line or row of trees by partially cutting the trees
and then pushing the end tree into the others, thereby creating a domino falling effect.
(59 FR 51699, 51724). There was considerable evidence in the rulemaking record that such a
method of felling a group of trees is extremely dangerous because there is greater
likelihood the line of trees will not fall in the intended direction or may not fall
completely, thereby creating even greater hazards (Ex. 5-42, 5-46; Tr. W2 231, OR 659).
The hazards associated with domino felling are further increased where a danger tree is
among the line or row of trees to be felled using this chain reaction method. Therefore,
OSHA emphasized that danger trees also could not be felled using domino felling.
After publication, OSHA was requested to further clarify whether the felling of a
single danger tree by felling another single tree into it is prohibited under the final
rule. The final rule does not prohibit this practice in all cases, since the definition of
domino felling in the final rule does not include the felling of a single tree with
another tree. The domino felling that is prohibited in the final rule is the felling of
multiple trees with a pusher tree. OSHA is revising the final rule to identify practices
which are not considered to be domino felling, and therefore, are not prohibited by the
standard.
However, the practice of felling a danger tree by felling another one into it, while it
is not prohibited, is not automatically permitted to be used whenever a danger tree is
felled. Paragraph (h)(1)(vii) of the final rule also requires that where a danger tree is
felled or removed, the feller must use a technique that minimizes employee exposure to the
hazard. In some cases, felling a danger tree by felling another tree into it will not
minimize employee exposure to the hazards, and may even increase the risk the feller faces
in removing the danger tree. As OSHA pointed out in the preamble, commenters told OSHA
that felling a danger tree by felling another one into it is a safe technique when used by
an experienced feller, but only "in certain situations" (Ex. 5-74 through 5-92).
Other commenters told OSHA that this technique is generally not considered safe practice
(Ex. 5-42, 5-46). In clarifying that this technique is not prohibited under the final
rule, OSHA is permitting that a danger tree be felled in this manner only where a careful
examination of mechanical techniques is first made and where it is also determined that
the hazards felling the danger tree in this manner can be sufficiently minimized. The
revised compliance directive notes that felling a danger tree by this method does not
always minimize employee exposure to the hazard under paragraph (h)(1)(vii), and
emphasizes that a safer method to remove a danger tree is to pull the tree down with a
skidder or mechanical feller (Ex. 5-43).
Paragraph (h)(2)(i) -- Retreat Paths
The final rule requires that a feller must plan and clear a retreat path before he
begins cutting a tree. This provision assures that the feller has an accessible path for
moving away from the falling tree, especially if the tree falls in an unintended
direction. The rulemaking record indicates that a significant number of injuries have
resulted from not having a clear retreat path. For example, the WIR survey indicates that
almost 15 percent of logging injuries reported resulted from loggers misjudging the time
and distance required to move to a safe place (Ex. 2-1).
It has been pointed out to OSHA that while this provision requires employees to plan
and clear a retreat path, it does not expressly state that the feller must take that
retreat path a safe distance from the falling tree once the tree is cut. While OSHA is
confident that the vast majority of employers and fellers understand the purpose of the
retreat path, OSHA is correcting the final rule to make the retreat requirement explicit.
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