Study of chipper deaths

Noting that a single life lost is 1 too many...but 113 in 24 years and now the world has to change? Aren't there a few more pressing issues in industrial applications that hurt or kill more than that on a yearly basis that maybe should take precendent? Here's an easy solution; nobody makes a chipper capable of chipping more than 4 inches...better yet; let's just ban these horrible, dangerous machines. Along with automobiles...that kill a lot more people everyday than wood chippers.
 
"All chipper related deaths are preventable".

That right there says it all. An unattainable goal but that won't stop those who like regulations from trying to regulate.

People get killed every day crossing the street. Regulate that.

I've got woods to rake.
 
CanadianStan said:
It’s hardly fair to blame 2 heat-stroke related deaths on chippers...
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They covered that...

"...or if the victim was killed while performing a chipper-related
task regardless of what caused the injury..."

It's not unusual to include deaths related to the job attached to the machinery... if you die of heat stroke standing next to an iron forge, it's not the forge being unsafe, it's standing next to it as a job requirement that is unsafe. OSHA is charged with regulating unsafe equipment, it's usage, and unsafe job conditions, as well.
 
“An in depth study”. “133 deaths identified”. It sounds like someone had a couple hours to kill and did a half a$$ed job looking at where they can shut down another working mans industry, or at least make it so difficult it’s not worth the time and effort to continue.
This number seems wildly inaccurate, there was a stat a couple years ago that stated an average of 1 chipper related death per month and for a while it seemed like we were seeing 2 and 3.
But remember guys we are doing this to ourselves (as an industry). Not training our guys in the dangers, owner operators doing what they want and not following the guild lines in place and having outdated, junk equipment available to Joe Blow for next to nothing. As long a idiots can buy chippers, idiots will send themselves through chippers. You fix the hack problem in our industry and you will solve half the work related deaths! I say only half because shit happens some days and we have all seen good people make simple mistakes that cost them dearly!
 
For what I can see, the "study" doesn't seem very informative. Again I can't download the pdf and I don't think I'm seeing the full text at the link but all I see is the numbers you guys have mentioned....disappointed
 
Jeez I was mislead.
I was concerned I was going to read a thread about sudden chipper death symptom (SCDS) or something, chippers dropping dead
 
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It's hard to fathom how these happen except deliberately or due to extreme incompetence, and poor reflex action.
 
While we all understand “caught-ins”(41), the highest category “struck by” (57) is rather vague. Is that parking the chipper under the tree being worked on and catching a falling hanger? Is it branches doing a rapid readjustment on the infeed? Is it sticking your unprotected temple in front of the outfeed? The rest of the categories, as CandianStan said, are not the chipper’s fault. Motor vehicle (7) - watch what you are doing while working in the street. Electrical (4) - don’t chip the downed primaries. Fall (2) - don’t park the chipper near a cliff. Heat stroke (2) - drink water. Aside from watching out for branches doing death whips maybe just don’t be an idiot.
 
Gorman said:
Sooooo, the bearing on the drum went and the drum went offset and the knives hit the anvil??

I wonder where the knife landed?
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It has been said hidden hardware inside a log is what caused all this. They posted the chipper for sale (as is) but so far have refused to post pictures of the drum as multiple people have asked. Scary how easy this could happen to anyone!
 
Well, hard to blame any of the crew with hidden hardware in s log. Sucks.

This seems like an appropriate time to confess that I chipped a tire iron once. Had just used it to un-jam a piece of wood from the drum with the feed wheel raised. Got distracted, backed out, lowered the feed wheel and my brother started running brush through again.

Got about 10 feet away and it happened. Sounded about like you would imagine. But maybe an order of magnitude louder. Actually cut the tire iron in half. Found the curved part in the bed of the truck. Could not find the other (straight) half for 10 minutes, and we were looking (to make sure it wasn’t still in the machine somewhere). Turns out it shot out like a missile, went through the front of the chip box, over the cab, and about 30 yards down the street. Never heard it clanging on the asphalt over the racket of the chipper. Lucky there was no car parked in front of us.

Late 1990s Morbark Model 13. Pretty well built. Only damage was to the tooth that cut the bar. About a quarter sized semi-circle in it. Coincidentally that’s how I found the missing half... caught the sun at the right angle and saw a quarter sized hole in the top front of the chip box. Looked like a bullet hole.

Lesson(s) learned. :hueco:
 
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