Collapsed timber stack

Scottish Woodlands Health & Safety Bulletin

A very important safety bulletin highlighting the need to stack in a safe a stable manner, and the reason to advise the public to not climb on timber stacks.

A stack of 3m chipwood became unstable and collapsed as a timber lorry was uplifting from it. The timber stack collapsed away from the timber lorry, back into the harvested area. No one was injured.
Due to the change of adjacent road angle, and the ground conditions across this short section, the operator had difficulties in setting in, and bracing enough supporting timbers to support the stack.

Stack stability is the key issue, both for safety and for efficient working use. FISA Safety Guide 503 Extraction by Forwarder sets out the basic standards on timber stacking in sections 24 & 25.