Forestry worker crushed after failing to apply handbrake

Michael Steven Langford, 28, was logging on a forestry site near Nelson when he was crushed to death in 2013.

A forestry worker was fatally crushed between two felled trees after failing to apply the handbrake on his skidder, a coroner has found, saying it was impossible to determine if this was a result of fatigue.

Michael Steven Langford, 28, was logging on a forestry site at Fox Hill Cemetery Rd, Wakefield, near Nelson, when he was crushed to death on November 29, 2013.

The young business owner was contracted by Total Harvest Solutions Ltd to clear 7000 tonnes of logs from the site, and his family and co-workers described how he worked long hours, and felt under pressure to complete the job by Christmas.

However, the company and the owner of the site both told the inquest into his death that there had been no discussion about having the work completed for Christmas, and the end date on the contract was January, or whenever the marketable trees had been removed.

Mr Langford was working down a steep gully out of view of his co-workers on the day he died, using a Tree Farmer C7D cable skidder to haul felled trees to the top of the skid site.

Mr Langford had attached strops to two felled trees, which were then to be winched by the skidder machine. But the skidder rolled forward down the slope, tightening the strops, which pulled the rear tree forward and crushed Mr Langford between the two.

The front blade of the skidder had been lowered, likely as a braking mechanism, but the handbrake had not been applied.

Co-worker Katy Dick went looking for Mr Langford after not hearing from him for around 10-15 minutes. She found him between the two trees with his head slumped down.

She ran to get help from another co-worker, Jason Knight, and they freed Mr Langford after cutting the rear felled tree with a chainsaw.

Mr Langford was blue and not breathing.

They performed CPR until emergency services arrived and took over, but he was not able to be revived.

Mr Langford's partner Kim Moore told the inquest he had been working long hours, leaving the house at 5.30am and not returning until after 9pm, in the days leading up to his death. Since he had started the job in September, she did not think he had taken a full day off, and had been working an average 14-plus hours a day.

A co-worker said he showed signs of stress, while another said he was not his "normal happy self" that day.

However, coroner CJ Devonport said it was impossible to conclude whether Mr Langford was suffering fatigue.

"While Mr Langford may have appeared to co-workers to be tired and stressed ... there is also evidence that he appeared to be working as usual."

In his findings, coroner Devonport concluded: "Mr Langford did not apply the handbrake on the skidder he was operating, with tragic consequences. Whether not applying the handbrake was a conscious decision of Mr Langford (relying on the skidder blade to act as a brake) or whether it was a failure to apply the handbrake (and whether fatigue caused that failure) will never be known.

"The only person who can answer that question is Mr Langford, and tragically he is deceased."

Mr Langford's death was one of two forestry-related deaths within one week in 2013, and contributed to pressure for the Government to tighten safety laws.