Logging ranked as second most dangerous profession

[Anthony_Va.]

yes. I always make up my own statistics. Much easier that way

I'm not too worried about any of it, as long as I don't become a statistic!

thats pretty dumb comments, but you do make a good point in that farming should have been subdivided into livestock and crop farming(difficult to do because most farmers probably do both, but each has it own inherent risks)...

Lol, dumb comments? What else would you expect from a dumb ole redneck farmboy?

I don't see why it makes alot of difference how the jobs are divided, or subdivided. It probably all averages out the same, or really close.

And the armed forces these days, I would'nt think would be way up on the danger chart either. Maybe back in Vietnam, but not these days.

No disrespect meant to anyone serving. Thank you guys for helping preserve our freedom!

 

[sawbid]

And the armed forces these days, I would'nt think would be way up on the danger chart either.

I work at THE "3-star" command. Every Monday our brief starts with the Faces of the Fallen Comrades...we ALL pop tall for it, sometimes for 10-15 minutes. It is more than you know (or at least realize) brother...

Just FYI...not here to poke, prod or argue...just fillin ya in.

Todd

 

[procarbine2k1]

Sweeeeet! Ive had 3 out of the 10 listed, only 7 more to go!

 

[djmercer1]

I'm not too worried about any of it, as long as I don't become a statistic!



Lol, dumb comments? What else would you expect from a dumb ole redneck farmboy?

I don't see why it makes alot of difference how the jobs are divided, or subdivided. It probably all averages out the same, or really close.

And the armed forces these days, I would'nt think would be way up on the danger chart either. Maybe back in Vietnam, but not these days.

No disrespect meant to anyone serving. Thank you guys for helping preserve our freedom!

absolutly no disrespect intended, but it does matter how jobs are subdivided.... if you consider the military, a guy/gal serving in an active frton has a higher risk than an instructor serving stateside... both serve a very valuable service but the individual in a battle front has a 'dangerous' job, but both would have the same weighting on this survey in its current format(if military occupations were to be included)...

 

[BobL]

In Australia being a jockey comes in second below open ocean fishing and above logging.

 

[amateur cutter]

A farmer logging his own land. Might as well paint the ace of spades on him!

It always amazes me what my farming buds will do. I've worked on a lot of construction sites and in fab shops so I have been forced to take way too many "safety" classes but it obviously paid off. Some of the stuff I see makes me cringe ; like standing in a front end loader bucket that has bale spikes attached to cut down a leaning barberchaired blowdown using a 30cc poulan one handed while smokin a cig. And an eight year old workin the tractor controls

I'd prolly trust the 8 y o more than the poulan & if ya believe some the cig will get him anyway.:hmm3grin2orange: But seriously, statistics can be presented in many ways to reflect a desired result. Fact is all those jobs are dangerous, even the commute to work kills a lot of people. I respect the men & women who are willing to do the jobs that most aren't. Especially those that serve in the military. A C

 

[slowp]

It sounds as if some of you want to be number 1. Well, you are welcome to it. Nobody sane would want to be in the top ten of this list.

 

[Gologit]

It sounds as if some of you want to be number 1. Well, you are welcome to it. Nobody sane would want to be in the top ten of this list.

Good point. I'd like it just fine if my occupation wasn't so high up on the list. There's sure as hell no glory in it.

 

[JimiLL]

It sure is the most dangerous job I have ever worked at

 

[PB]

It sounds as if some of you want to be number 1. Well, you are welcome to it. Nobody sane would want to be in the top ten of this list.

Good point. I'd like it just fine if my occupation wasn't so high up on the list. There's sure as hell no glory in it.

A hypothetical question (don't shoot me): Is the profession more dangerous because of the work, or because only the insane are cutting timber? Discuss.


I'm going to hide right behind this rock for a while.

 

[Gologit]

A hypothetical question (don't shoot me): Is the profession more dangerous because of the work, or because only the insane are cutting timber? Discuss.


I'm going to hide right behind this rock for a while.

Hmmmm...eating your lab samples again? And don't hide behind the rock...just crawl under it. You've been there before and we know you'll be comfortable. Somebody with calks, stagged off pants, a hickory shirt all black and oily down the front, and a tin hat with more dents than you have years on this earth will let you know when it's safe to come out.

And dont worry...we won't shoot you. Shooting is too quick and might even be painless. We have other plans for you.

 

[PB]

Hmmmm...eating your lab samples again? And don't hide behind the rock...just crawl under it. You've been there before and we know you'll be comfortable. Somebody with calks, stagged off pants, a hickory shirt all black and oily down the front, and a tin hat with more dents than you have years on this earth will let you kow when it's safe to come out.

And dont worry...we won't shoot you. Shooting is too quick and might even be painless. We have other plans for you.

You know Bob, in my younger days of last week I would have probably made a comment about the stain on the shirt being from drool and chewing tobacco, the dents from temper tantrums. You know, like the ones on ax-men? I am older and wiser now, so I won't make a comment about how loggers can't find pants that fit. I think I have turned a corner.

 

[tlandrum]

my question is how can an occupation that we all know to be a killer(ive had 2 family members killed myself) get so burried in your skin that you just cant see ourselves doing any other job. i have tried doing the other stuff and always seem to wish i was in the woods logging.there just a strange satisfaction in logging.i know i hate it at times but wont quit.

 

[Gologit]

my question is how can an occupation that we all know to be a killer(ive had 2 family members killed myself) get so burried in your skin that you just cant see ourselves doing any other job. i have tried doing the other stuff and always seem to wish i was in the woods logging.there just a strange satisfaction in logging.i know i hate it at times but wont quit.

Dunno. I've quit completely a few times, sold everything off, and swore I'd never log another stick. When my last falling partner got killed I made up my mind that I was all through with it.
I went back on the saw a week later. I've always gone back to it...every time.
Not because there wasn't anything else available, there always was and the other stuff always paid better, had more reasonable hours, more prestige, there were a lot of nice smelling pretty ladies around and you didn't run the daily risks of getting crippled or killed. It bored the hell out of me.
I went back logging because it's the only thing I've ever really wanted to do and felt natural doing.
If you've ever logged and I mean really logged and you liked it you'll never really be happy doing anything else.
The chances of a disabling injury or getting killed are just part of the deal. You keep yourself as safe as you can and let the bean counters in the office worry about the statistics.

 

[Slamm]

I thought I read a "report" somewhere where the jobs were divided up and the tree faller or cutter was the most dangerous job, period. As the fishing type jobs are more dangerous collectively.

I have always lived on a farm, raised cattle, caught wild cattle, broke horses for the racetrace and private horse owners, rode bulls for 15 years and logged throughout the week .......... bull riding has been voted the most dangerous sport since 1948. My mom prayed a lot, LOL.

My proudest times were when I was logging Monday-Friday till noon and then driving to a bullriding Friday afternoon to compete for the weekend and then going back at it again on Monday for another week of logging.

I'm not sadistic, but I like exciting work and I hate doing something boring. I stayed on my toes during those times ...... got wrecked a bunch too, LOL. I did what I knew to do to make money and support my family.

I don't mean it as arrogant, but I am proud that I have stories to tell the kids and nephews of things that I have done and got to do, as a result of living a pretty exciting life. I'd rather be dead, than an old man that had to live through a boring life. I have known old men who spent 40+ years in the exact same machine shop walls, and I figured out at age 20, that wasn't for me.

Nowadays, it seems everone wants to "play it safe" and it just seems like such a puss way of going through life. It is sad that there are those that get killed or injured to make various jobs or career choices tops in the most dangerous catagory, but if they do it at their own choosing then it was just in the cards for it to happen.

Sam

 

[RandyMac]

my question is how can an occupation that we all know to be a killer(ive had 2 family members killed myself) get so burried in your skin that you just cant see ourselves doing any other job. i have tried doing the other stuff and always seem to wish i was in the woods logging.there just a strange satisfaction in logging.i know i hate it at times but wont quit.

In this airbag and chainbrake world, there are few opportunities to risk oneself for employment. The ones that do are the real deal, the wannbes fade away quickly.
I was raised in an area where the two major industries were timber/lumber and fishing. In the past, the attrition rate was high, so was production. Death in the woods and mills was a given factor, losing a few boats every year was too.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

my question is how can an occupation that we all know to be a killer(ive had 2 family members killed myself) get so burried in your skin that you just cant see ourselves doing any other job. i have tried doing the other stuff and always seem to wish i was in the woods logging.there just a strange satisfaction in logging.i know i hate it at times but wont quit.

It is too easy of a question to answer.

You are just born into what you do. It's just who you are. Me or you either one werent meant to push pencils across a desk or sweat it out in a factory.

We are made to sweat it out under the hot sun. No standing on concrete all day, just earth!

You log and I farm. Neither job is the easiest or the best paying, but what else is there?

I know the other guys here that feel like logging or farming, or whatever is the only thing they know, well...they're right. And it's the only thing they want to know.

A man is put on this earth to do a job. Either born into it or just tried it and found that it was right for him. Either way, you know when it's right, and the statistics or pay or whatever else does'nt matter.

 

[slowp]

I have always thought that sawmills were scarier than logging operationg. Don't know why--the noise? Being in a building?

The good thing about the woods is that the site and scenery change, along with the weather. I am not a logger, I just go out and wander around and harass them, but I sure would have a hard time going to the same building every day and working at the same desk every day.

I tried a part time in and part time outdoors job. My neck and back killed me from sitting in front of a computer. I was crankier than now!! :biggrinbounce2

Unlike what you see on axmen, there is an effort to minimize risk as much as possible out there.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Unlike what you see on axmen, there is an effort to minimize risk as much as possible out there.

Same with farming. I have had three neigbors killed. One turned a tractor over on himself in a pond and drowned. One had a 55 gallon drum fall off the top of an old primer he had converted to a sprayer.

Both would be hard to do with modern equipment and wearing the seatbelt around bad spots.

 

[Mike PA]

a couple of comments:
1)i dont like subdividing professions... roofers, steel workers and construction labourers are all construction men.... me, when im running a site, i dont care if a roofer or a pipe fitter gets hurt...


dave

It does not matter much, as the occupation rates are not the totals, they are per 100,000. Combining these would only serve to dampen the overall construction picture, as some aspects of construction are more dangerous than others. It is helpful to know which areas of construction are worse in order to address the problems.