quote:

---

(Vancouver) Tree fallers in British Columbia forests are dying at alarming rates and the industry, the workers compensation board and the Forests Ministry are to blame, says a report released Thursday.

"There have been 59 fallers killed in the last 10 years and four in this season already," said Mike McKibbin, president of the Western Fallers Association. "Eleven have been involved in crippling accidents and there are only a couple thousand of us operating in B.C.," said McKibbin, who compiled the report after interviewing many of the 250 self-employed fallers who work for various logging contractors in the province.

Fallers are the workers who are among the first into an area that is slated for logging. Their job, which is to cut down the trees, has always been regarded as one of the most dangerous occupations.

McKibbin and Tanner Elton, CEO of the B.C. Forest Safety Council, cited a litany of reasons for the high fatality and accident rate.

But the general theme was that rules and regulations in place are not enforced by the industry, the Forests Ministry and WorkSafeBC, which used to be known as the Workers Compensation Board (WCB).

"Many logging contractors display an attitude of 'Whatever it takes, just do it to get the job done.'" said McKibbin. "This is turning our forests into death zones."

McKibbin, who has been a faller for 30 years, said WorkSafeBC "is not out there enforcing their rules and regulations. The Forests Ministry doesn't seem to be out there either."

But Elton placed primary blame on the industry.

"WCB has an important role, but if you ask who is responsible for safety in the forest, it is the industry," he said.

---

quote:

---

Facing mounting anger over the rising death toll in the woods, British Columbia's biggest forest companies have promised to improve safety in the logging industry.

"Too many people have died and we must and will change this," said Canfor Corp. CEO Jim Shepherd, who chairs the B.C. Forest Safety Council. Forestry executives who are members of the council pledged to set up a program that includes ensuring their companies and contractors are safety certified.

[...]

Council chief executive Tanner Elton said the group hopes to have a pilot program ready early next year and implement the certification program by this time next year.

"The challenges are in how to deal with the smaller companies," said Elton. "That's the subject of ongoing discussions."

The certification program is modelled on one set up by Alberta's oil and gas industry, which Elton said was able to bring down its high accident rate dramatically.

[...]

As many as 40 forestry workers have been killed so far this year and another 100 more badly injured.

---

[end quote]

Canfor CEO Jim Shepherd chairing the FSC is akin to the fox chairing the Protect Chickens Council.

If he is serious in preventing death and injury,he can start by changing Canfor's onerous production standards and low contract rates that force contractors and workers to cut corners in order to survive.

Canfor is consolidating it's position as BC's largest forest company and is exerting more and more influence on working conditions and forest policy.

Shareholder return takes precidence over safety.In both the oil patch and the forest industry,these safety standards industry crows about are forgotten the moment the safety meeting is over.

I do not know whether it is the present government or not but filing a complaint to the WCB,Real Estate Council,Child Protection,Forest service etc results in indifference and unresponsiveness.