Planter killed in MVA

[jdtesluk]

As some of you may know by now, a planter was killed in an MVA near Vanderhoof this week. (article link below) My thoughts to the family.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/2008 ... crash.html

It is an unpleasant reminder of the hazards of travelling logging roads. The propensity for rollover on dirt roads increases the danger that is already there. Please, wear your seatbelts. Please, if you see someone without one on, tell them to buckle up, you could save their life. Please drivers, tell all your passengers you are not moving until everyone is buckled up. It is unclear where the breakdown occured in this incident, and I cannot imagine what it would feel like to have been in that vehicle. Surely this event will haunt all of those involved. Most of us know the roads are the most dangerous part of our job. Silviculture and tree planting has come a long way in the past 10 years with safety, but we cannot let down our guard for even a second with the hazards of the roads.

Please do whatever you can to ensure the same thing does not happen to you, anyone you know, or anyone you just met at a job.

This season has been, and will continue to be, a chaotic mess because of the snow and cold temperatures. Many people may feel rushed to get to new contracts, and will be working long hours to get the trees in. I am not in any way implying that was a factor in the mentioned event, but I am very concerned about the rest of the summer as a member of the industry. Please please recognize your limits, don't drive tired, don't drive too fast, look out for each other, and take whatever precautions you need to in order to make it home safe at the end of this season.

Best regards and safe travels.

[Scooter]

One of the sad things is that, as the article pointed out, she hadn't even planted. She was being brought out to camp as a new employee after a day off. This brings up the question of whether or not she realized the risks of travelling on forestry roads without wearing a belt (ie. safety pre-work indoctrination).

Ultimately, although it is the occupant's responsibility to put on the belt, anyone who ever drives people in company or personal vehicles should be checking to make sure that everyone has belts on before they start driving. Whoever was driving that truck is going to remember this and feel horrible for the rest of their life.

Here's a full cut-and-paste of the article, from the PG Citizen. I've copied it here so it can serve as a permanent reminder on this message board even after the paper's website no longer archives it:

A 25-year-old Montreal woman was killed Thursday evening when she was ejected from a crew-cab pickup carrying a tree-planting crew that rolled on a logging road south of Vanderhoof.
Christine Benoit-Belisle was transported to St. John's Hospital in Vanderhoof, but succumbed to her injuries, Vanderhoof RCMP said Friday. The police said Benoit-Belisle was not wearing a seatbelt.
The other four occupants of the crew-cab suffered minor injuries.
Vanderhoof RCMP, with the help of Prince George RCMP, and the coroner's office continue to investigate the crash at the 83.5-kilometre mark of the Kluskus Forest Service Road. WorkSafe B.C. was also on the scene.
"This is not the call you want to receive," said John Betts, executive director of the Western Silviculture Contractors Association. "It's a big main thoroughfare, the vehicle hit some washboards (a bumpy sections) or something, probably lost control, and a seatbelt not done up -- that's all I know about it," said Betts, who had talked with those familiar with the crash.
The two-lane Kluskus road is considered one of the better resource roads in the region.
Betts said he believed the crew was reporting back from a day off, and that the woman, who had just been hired, was reporting to work with the crew.
While there have been relatively few fatalities involving silviculture crews in B.C.'s Northern Interior in the past two decades, Betts said that transportation is the area where the silviculture sector is most exposed to possibly fatal hazards.
MaryAnne Arcand, who heads up the TruckSafe program for the B.C. Forest Safety Council, said this death hits hard, particularly as it is the third forestry-related death this week in the province.
A tree faller and a driller-blaster workman on a road building crew were both killed on Vancouver Island in the past week in separate incidents, she said.
The three deaths raise the total in the province to eight this year, including three now in northern B.C.
A log truck driver was killed in January on a resource road north of Fort St. James, and another log truck driver was killed in March on a highway north of Fort St. John.
Log truckers lead the death toll in northern B.C., where more than 30 drivers have been killed on backroads and highways since 1995.

[Mike]

Please drivers, tell all your passengers you are not moving until everyone is buckled up.

Our drivers at the company I am working with say it constantly; every time we get into the vans. Still there are some that don't put the seat belt on. It seems insane to me.

[jdtesluk]

If they don't put on their belt, they don't get a ride. Period.

I have had people tell me that it's a matter of choice. Wrong. First, if there is a roll over and a loose body is flying around the cab, that choice becomes a threat to everyone else. Passengers in the front seat of vehicles with their belts on have had their head caved in by unbelted people in the back who become projectiles upon impact. Second, there are issues of liability and issues of the law. It is not a choice. Wear your seatbelt or lose your job. Get used to hearing that because that will be the position that employers will be taking more and more.

I have heard of three silviculture MVAs in the last year in which the only person not wearing a belt was seriously injured. It is now past the point of asking politely. People should get told during orientation, and then after that it's write-ups then a pink slip.

It is time we take care of these senseless preventable deaths and injuries. I can think of a lot of better things to do with my energy than to check seatbelts and ask people to do the simplest things.

[steve]

if you think you're too cool for a seatbelt then i think you're a moron

[karinoss]

Hello,

I am a planter that worked for this company at the time the accident happened. On the day off I met Flow ( the girl that passed away ) and she was an amazing person. She was also an experience planter of many years, and a great one to. I don't think its fare to talk about wither or not she was thinking or was well prepared (safety trained) of wearing her seat belt that day. How many planters can say that everybody (planters and foreman) always wear there seat belt? I think this is a reality that affects most of planting company's and should be taken in perspective when talking about Flow's accident.

That day, and the next, that whole week, that season was really hard for us planters, thinking about the one we all lost. Also living with the driver and other passengers was work itself, listening and trying to comfort them, very intense season. And I have to say that the driver, was really strong about it and I think should not be blamed for the death of this great girl. Every planter involved in this accident, came back planting after a couple of weeks and I think there strength should also be recognized. This event was really hard on the company but we also planted for a full day and offered all the money from all the trees planted (and the company doubled it) to a non-profit organization that Flow worked with back here in Montreal.

So I just wanted to put things in perspective, from my experience.
And for sure, every body take care of each other.
karinoss

[korno]

as a foreman even if I am just moving down the road. The truck does not move unless all of the belts are done up.

[Captain Slashpile]

2008 was a tough year, with many losses east to west. Im trying to retire, but I still keep an eye on all things silvicultural. I am praying you all play safe out there this season. Good luck on getting what little trees seem to be available. Namaste.

[jdtesluk]

Hello,

I am a planter that worked for this company at the time the accident happened. On the day off I met Flow ( the girl that passed away ) and she was an amazing person. She was also an experience planter of many years, and a great one to. I don't think its fare to talk about wither or not she was thinking or was well prepared (safety trained) of wearing her seat belt that day. How many planters can say that everybody (planters and foreman) always wear there seat belt? I think this is a reality that affects most of planting company's and should be taken in perspective when talking about Flow's accident.

That day, and the next, that whole week, that season was really hard for us planters, thinking about the one we all lost. Also living with the driver and other passengers was work itself, listening and trying to comfort them, very intense season. And I have to say that the driver, was really strong about it and I think should not be blamed for the death of this great girl. Every planter involved in this accident, came back planting after a couple of weeks and I think there strength should also be recognized. This event was really hard on the company but we also planted for a full day and offered all the money from all the trees planted (and the company doubled it) to a non-profit organization that Flow worked with back here in Montreal.

So I just wanted to put things in perspective, from my experience.
And for sure, every body take care of each other.
karinoss

Thanks for sharing your experience. That could not have been easy. Your words provide the most powerful reason for doing every single thing we can to stop this from happening to another person in our industry.

There are lots of planters and forepersons that are unconditional about seatbelt use, we need that to be the norm. The moment we say that not wearing a seatbelt is part of the "reality" of the job, we invite more tragedy.

Naturally, anyone connected with this event is going to feel sensitive about the situation being laid out in an open forum and picked over by the standers by. However, it's not so much about blame, as it is about identifying all of the points where things can go wrong so we can prevent this from happening again. I hope that Flow's name is in everyone's mind when they get in a truck, and she motivates them to put on their seatbelt. I didn't know Flow. However, I work with a lot of people that are just as dear to me as she was to her friends, family, and co-workers. It would gut me to lose any one of them. My sole motivation in the workplace is to find a way, to push whatever buttons I need to, to get them to take care of themselves and each other. I hope people all over the industry talk about Flow, and how she wasn't just another planter, but an incredibly important and beloved person to everyone around her. Then get them to look around the meeting at everyone else who is there. Do everything you can to keep these people safe, they are important and loved by their friends and family too. Do everything you can to keep them safe.

[duderancher]

I have a rule when I'm a designated driver or a crew-boss: Everybody wears their seatbelt or the truck doesn't move.

It's really simple and works.

Lots of fatalities last year in the industry-three people that I knew so my thoughts go out to those friends...

[Scooter]

The article linked by Jordan at the very top of this topic is no longer available on the PG Citizen. The only online references that now seem to exist are:

https://www.bcforestsafe.org/files/file ... -rmb78.pdf

http://www.pgfreepress.com/quebec-woman ... -rollover/

https://journalstarmand.com/la-fille-qu ... es-arbres/

The last of those three links, thankfully, is a good memorial.