Timber iQ August- September 2018 // Issue: 39 | Page 60

CONTRIBUTORS - TALKING TIMBER
Various kinds of cutting equipment exposes workers to possible injury.
Keeping it safe in sawmills
Following up from our June/July 2018 'Safety at the Cutting Edge'
feature, the Department of Labour shares invaluable insight into the
nitty-gritty of health and safety in sawmilling.
By the Department of Labour | Photos by Pixabay
O
ccupational health and safety issues in sawmills and
wood manufacturing plants are common to those of
most large industrial facilities, and their prevention
and control is similar to those used in such large
industrial companies.
Logs are generally unloaded from railroad cars or heavy
trucks and stacked by machines before being moved to log
conveyors and log decks for processing in the sawmill.
Injuries due to vehicle movement in log yards are common,
in addition to injuries from logs that roll off or are dropped
by handling equipment or are dislodged from log stacks.
Logs may also be stored in log ponds prior to being
conveyed to the sawmill.
The occupational health and safety issues associated
with sawmilling and wood products manufacturing
primarily include machine safety and conveyor systems;
58 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018 //
lifting, repetitive work and work posture; as well as noise,
chemicals, dust and explosions.
DELIVERING MACHINE AND WORKER SAFETY
Wood processing plants employ various kinds of cutting
equipment, for example saws, routers, chippers, planers,
sanders, slicers, peelers and more. Debarkers may also
expose workers to injury –cutting and debarking equipment
is often in rapid motion, and accidents often happen when
machines are inadvertently switched on during
maintenance and cleaning.
There are various recommendations which, where
appropriate, should be adopted to prevent, minimise and
control injuries from cutting and debarking equipment.
See more on page 60