Fatality Investigations and Fines Rendered In Warshington
- Thread starter slowp
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A $7,800.00 fine or a $2,600.00 fine for a death?! All 3 of these incidents were the fault of the company and the payments were paid out of petty cash. What a sham!
jwilly
ArboristSite Operative
Not only is it a sham, it is a shame!
Humptulips
ArboristSite Guru
Can't say that I agree. Based on the article it is pretty hard to come to a conclusion on fault. I would have to know more before I placed blame.
The first kid that was under the carriage. It seems like a no brainer he shouldn't have been there but there has to be a lot more to it then the article says. I have had my close calls with carriages dropping but by the grace of God I'm here so I know stuff happens that can't always be traced back to the company.
Second guy killed when they pulled a tailhold and the turn came back at them. Hard to understand how that is the companies fault. The default cause L&I always uses is not far enough in the clear so that tells me somebody was reaching to blame the company.
Last guy a limb fell on him. Widow makers fall, been that way forever. I'm not sure how a company is to totally eliminate that kind of hazard.
The size of the fines seems small unless maybe you might consider maybe the company had no way to foresee the accidents and they were running a pretty good operation.
When L&I investigates a fatality there is likely a fine involved no matter what.
Is that what these loggers were worth? If you think that is what these fines are about you are reading to much into them.
One of the companies was new to yarder logging. I had heard that they were a very good company to work for, but that was when they had no yarders. They have been branching out. The death of a crew member probably hit those two guys (the owners) harder than any fine would.
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