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Winter is a busy season in the Ontario logging industry, and snowmobile enthusiasts unfamiliar with the region and terrain are often unaware of the high volume of truck traffic on remote industrial forest access roads in winter warns a news release from Workplace Safety North.
Nineteen drivers, two passengers, and two pedestrians were killed in snowmobile collisions, and almost 300 were injured during the 2013-14 season, according to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation annual report. An average of one person is killed, and many more are injured every year in Ontario on these industrial roads.
Last March, an Ontario snowmobiler died after colliding with a logging truck on a bush road. The OPP reported the man was travelling northbound along the road with a group of sledders when they encountered a southbound logging truck at a curve. The first snowmobiler navigated the curve safely, but the second one crossed in front of the truck. The truck driver tried to avoid the collision, but the sled collided with the trailer. The snowmobiler was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“Industrial logging roads in northern Ontario are built, used, and maintained, to a high degree by forestry firms,” says Tom Welton, Industrial Director at Workplace Safety North (WSN). “But because almost all the roads are on Crown land, the companies make significant efforts to identify designated snowmobile crossings, active logging areas, and their related dangers, to both workers and the public.”
Other frequent industrial road users include workers from mining companies, rail, and telecommunications companies, who may also be unfamiliar with the high volume of traffic in winter by logging companies, notes Welton. A 2015 WSN industry health and safety report notes Ontario logging and forest management companies experienced a total of eight fatalities in the previous six years.
Steve Bros, Acting Operations Manager at new provincial government agency Nawiinginokiima Forest Management Corporation (NFMC) in northern Ontario, says he was lucky to walk away from a head-on collision and now it’s his mission to warn others.
“In my 40 years working in the forest, I’ve been to two funerals, provided first-aid to badly injured people, and know of at least two people who were lucky to walk away from head-on collisions – me and my wife,” says Bros.
He survived a head-on collision in 1988, and four years later, his wife, Sarah, eight months pregnant at the time, also survived a head-on collision with a pick-up truck carrying tree planters.
“She was lucky to get out of that one,” says Bros. “Unfortunately, a friend and coworker of mine was killed in a head-on collision. Also, we had a student in 1989 who was trapped in a half-ton truck for several hours and has a permanent limp because of a head-on collision.
“We oversee a huge land base with many forest access roads” says Dana Bond, NFMC Clerk. “It’s a high-risk area – both for industrial traffic and public traffic on those roads. The health and safety issue on those access roads is one of the more important risks to mitigate.”
The agency adopted the road sign program legislated by the British Columbia government, which includes a radio channel protocol so truckers access proper radio channels and communicate their location in a consistent way.
“We’re trying to be very proactive in avoiding incidents and accidents,” says Bond. “The new industrial road sign system being implemented in the NFMC license area is for the health and safety benefit of both commercial and industrial truck drivers as well as members of the public.
Snowmobile clubs are encouraged to contact Workplace Safety North at [email protected] for more information or to arrange a free information session for their community and club members.
See: Safe Travel Near Industrial Roads - course for snowmobile club members and volunteers - WSN information sheet
And: Northern Ontario forest agency adopts BC-legislated sign program
