An OSHA inspection conducted under the agency’s local emphasis on logging safety program found employees exposed to falls and chain saws at a Clay, West Virginia worksite.

OSHA issued A and S Tree Service, based in Walton, W.V., two willful, 11 serious and three other-than-serious violations after the  Oct. 6, 2015 inspection.

Willful violations were issued for the company permitting employees to ride as passengers on a dozer without the use of an assigned seat and safety belt, and exposing the employees to crushing injuries if the employees fell unexpectedly from the machine. The company also exposed a worker to danger of severe cuts or lacerations after allowing the employee to drop start a chainsaw.

The serious violations include an employee not wearing required heavy-duty leather boots while operating a chainsaw; an employee not wearing face protection while using a chainsaw to limb trees; a bulldozer operated on rough terrain without the use of the provided seatbelt; and trees felled with inadequate undercuts that help control the tree’s fall.

The other-than-serious citations related to a missing operator manual for a dozer, lack of current first-aid and CPR training, and absence of a hazard communication plan.

logging industry is one of the five most hazardous industries, based on injury rates. Historically, the industry is the source of multiple fatalities in West Virginia. In 2015, 27 percent of all occupational fatalities in West Virginia occurred in logging.

“Loggers who manually fell trees with chainsaws are exposed to the greatest logging risks, making it critical for employers to ensure safeguards are in place to prevent injuries or death,” said Prentice Cline, director of OSHA’s Charleston Office. ‘Compliance with OSHA’s logging standard will eliminate many of the fatal accidents and greatly reduce the number of lost work day injuries occurring in the logging industry.”

Proposed penalties: $44,000