In adequate cooperation at timber loading sites – a need for developing overall safety and better planning of loading sites

The Safety In­ves­ti­ga­tion Au­thor­ity com­pleted the in­ves­ti­ga­tion of a level cross­ing ac­ci­dent lead­ing to the death of a shunt­ing fore­man at the Kurkimäki tim­ber load­ing site in Feb­ru­ary 2024.

The accident occurred when a shunting unit pushing empty timber transport wagons collided with a vehicle combination for timber transport at an unprotected level crossing. The vehicle combination was crossing the level crossing. The underlying causes were the failure of the vehicle combination driver to notice the approaching shunting unit and the misinterpretation of the shunting foreman of the driver’s intentions.

“This investigation highlights the fact that the timber loading sites currently lack an operator that would coordinate different functions and be responsible for the overall safety of the loading sites. Several actors are working at the timber loading sites who are simply unfamiliar with each other’s activities – nor do they understand how their own work affects others – or the overall safety at the site. There is a lack of cooperation practices and shared communication methods, resulting in making “ad hoc” decisions. This accident had the worst possible outcome as it resulted in the death of an employee”, says Lasse Laatta, Investigator in Charge.

The recommendations of the Safety Investigation Authority concerning the investigation are related to the development of both the overall safety and the planning of timber loading sites. Level crossings in the area should be avoided. If there are level crossings in the area, the Safety Investigation Authority recommends that they be subject to safety requirements. For example, maximising the volume of timber must not be the only factor guiding planning and operations.

“As such, this was a very common level crossing accident at an unprotected level crossing. We have investigated level crossing accidents before and issued recommendations for improving their safety. While the efforts to improve the safety of level crossings have been generally successful in recent years, there is still work to be done”, Laatta adds.