Contents

Main Page
Introduction
Methods and Approach to the Problem
Overview of Alaska's Work-related Fatalities
Helicopter Logging
Commercial Fishing
Commercial Aviation
Nonfatal Injuries to Alaska Workers
Conclusions and Future Direction
References
List of Acronyms

This section will describe a successful partnership, developed in the early to mid1990s, that resulted in increased safety for a high-risk occupation. The first major focused prevention effort of NIOSH came during the establishment of the Alaska Occupational Injury Surveillance System (AOISS) in 1992. Because of increasing and changing environmental restrictions on road building in Alaska’s national forests in the late 1980s, helicopters emerged as a major transportation mode for moving cut logs by the early 1990s. Amid the rapid growth of this new industry in Alaska, between January 1, 1992, and June 30, 1993, there were 6 helicopter crashes (see Table 2), with 9 fatal injuries (including 4 pilots) and 10 severe nonfatal injuries, out of only 25 helicopters flying in logging operations. These events led to an extraordinarily high annual crash rate of 16 percent and a catastrophic pilot fatality rate of 5,000/100,000/year. 12 Investigation revealed that all crashes involved improper operation and/or maintenance practices.

After the occurrence of two serious helicopter logging crashes during one week in May 1993, NIOSH began a series of urgent consultations, culminating in convening an emergency session of the Alaska Interagency Working Group for the Prevention of Occupational Injuries in early July 1993. Prior to this meeting, the first helicopter logging matrix was developed to identify risk factors contributing to these events. (See Table 3.) Based on the collaborative efforts of the Working Group, there were tangible outcomes:

1. All parties had rough agreement on what had happened in these events
2. The US Forest Service knew the timber sale locations, AKDOL knew the ramp (maintenance) and hangar locations, and both agencies were willing to share this information with the FAA and to collaborate and share costs in making site visits to each in the ensuing weeks. [Due to a peculiarity of CFR Part 133, the regulation for aerial lift-load operations, the FAA only had the chief pilot/headquarter location for each operation, and all of these were out of state.]
3. The Working Group arrived at preliminary consensus recommendations.

Photo 5: A helicopter crash at Dora Bay, Alaska

The prevention–matrix approach resulted in recommendations including more vigorous oversight; development of rigorous voluntary industry standards of equipment, maintenance, and training; exclusive use of multi–engine motor craft; and more stringent controls on alcohol and drug use in this industry. (See Table 4.)

By late July 1993, all helicopter logging sites and ramps in the state had been visited by the jurisdictional agencies, with a number of these operations being curtailed or entirely shut down for irregularities. Since that intervention and the implementation of the Working Group’s recommendations during July 1993, there were no additional helicopter logging crashes or fatalities in Alaska until July 1996, when a single crash occurred, with one fatality. (See Figure 8.) There have been no more since (through December 2001), despite continuation of large-scale helicopter logging in Alaska.

Photo 6: A long line load of logs being lifted by a multi-engine, heavy-lift helicopter

Figure 8: Crashes, Fatalities, and Nonfatal Injuries in Alaska Helicopter Logging Operations, 1990-1999 (By 6-Month Intervals)
July 8, 1993, Interagency Intervention

This effective application of surveillance data in an interagency intervention for helicopter logging-related crashes has continued. In March 1995, the Alaska Interagency Working Group for the Prevention of Occupational Injuries and NIOSH cosponsored a Helicopter Logging Safety Workshop. An additional prevention matrix was developed to further refine safety countermeasures in the industry. (See Table 5.)

Additional workshops were held in 1996 and 1997. (The proceedings of these workshops have been combined and published in one volume.)13 Building on Alaska’s leadership in this area, a Helicopter Logging Safety Committee was formed under the auspices of the Helicopter Association International (HAI), "...to help promote the safe use of helicopters in all aspects of the helicopter logging industry." The committee has established its own "Helicopter Logging Guidelines," which address four issues: (1) general helicopter safety for forestry operations; (2) integration of ground and flight activities; (3) helicopter specific planning; and (4) a pre-accident plan (HAI, 1997).14 More detailed accounts of these data, events, and interventions have been published elsewhere.13,15,16The insurance industry has also played a major role in progress made in helicopter logging by substantially discounting helicopter insurance costs for operators adhering to standards developed by the Helicopter Logging Safety Committee.

The partnership developed among government agencies, HAI, and insurance underwriters has demonstrated the value of joint efforts to address specific occupational safety problems to workers in Alaska.