Table of contents. This paragraph contains the list of paragraphs and appendices contained in this section.

a. Table of contents
b. Scope and application
c. Definitions
d. General requirements
1. Personal protective equipment
2. First-aid kits
3. Seat belts
4. Fire extinguishers
5. Environmental conditions
6. Work areas
7. Signaling and signal equipment
8. Overhead electric lines
9. Flammable and combustible liquids
10. Explosives and blasting agents
e. Hand and portable powered tools
1. General requirements
2. Chain saws
f. Machines
1. General requirements
2. Machine operation
3. Protective structures
4. Overhead guards
5. Machine access
6. Exhaust systems
7. Brakes
8. Guarding
g. Vehicles
h. Tree harvesting
1. General requirements
2. Manual felling
3. Bucking and limbing
4. Chipping
5. Yarding
6. Loading and unloading
7. Transport
8. Storage
i. Training
j. Appendices
APPENDIX A -- Minimum First-aid Supplies
APPENDIX B -- Minimum First-aid Training
APPENDIX C -- Corresponding ISO Agreements

Scope and application.

Hazards and working conditions not specifically addressed by this section are covered by other applicable sections of part 1910.

Definitions applicable to this section.

Arch. An open-framed trailer or built-up framework used to suspend the leading ends of trees or logs when they are skidded.

Backcut (felling cut). The final cut in a felling operation.

Ballistic nylon. A nylon fabric of high tensile properties designed to provide protection from lacerations.

Buck. To cut a felled tree into logs.

Butt. The bottom of the felled part of a tree.

Cable yarding. The movement of felled trees or logs from the area where they are felled to the landing on a system composed of a cable suspended from spars and/or towers. The trees or logs may be either dragged across the ground on the cable or carried while suspended from the cable.

Chock. A block, often wedge shaped, which is used to prevent movement; e.g., a log from rolling, a wheel from turning.

Choker. A sling used to encircle the end of a log for yarding. One end is passed around the load, then through a loop eye, end fitting or other device at the other end of the sling. The end that passed through the end fitting or other device is then hooked to the lifting or pulling machine.

Danger tree. A standing tree that presents a hazard to employees due to conditions such as, but not limited to, deterioration or physical damage to the root system, trunk, stem or limbs, and the direction and lean of the tree.

Debark. To remove bark from trees or logs.

Deck. A stack of trees or logs.

Designated person. An employee who has the requisite knowledge, training and experience to perform specific duties.

Domino felling. The partial cutting of multiple trees which are left standing and then pushed over with a pusher tree.

Fell (fall). To cut down trees.

Feller (faller). An employee who fells trees.

Grounded. The placement of a component of a machine on the ground or on a device where it is firmly supported.

Guarded. Covered, shielded, fenced, enclosed, or otherwise protected by means of suitable enclosures, covers, casings, shields, troughs, railings, screens, mats, or platforms, or by location, to prevent injury.

Health care provider. A health care practitioner operating with the scope of his/her license, certificate, registration or legally authorized practice.

Landing. Any place where logs are laid after being yarded, and before transport from the work site.

Limbing. To cut branches off felled trees.

Lodged tree (hung tree). A tree leaning against another tree or object which prevents it from falling to the ground.

Log. A segment sawed or split from a felled tree, such as, but not limited to, a section, bolt, or tree length.

Logging operations. Operations associated with felling and moving trees and logs from the stump to the point of delivery, such as, but not limited to, marking danger trees and trees/logs to be cut to length, felling, limbing, bucking, debarking, chipping, yarding, loading, unloading, storing, and transporting machines, equipment and personnel to, from and between logging sites.

Machine. A piece of stationary or mobile equipment having a self-contained powerplant, that is operated off-road and used for the movement of material. Machines include, but are not limited to, tractors, skidders, front-end loaders, scrapers, graders, bulldozers, swing yarders, log stackers, log loaders, and mechanical felling devices, such as tree shears and feller-bunchers. Machines do not include airplanes or aircraft (e.g., helicopters).

Rated capacity. The maximum load a system, vehicle, machine or piece of equipment was designed by the manufacturer to handle.

Root wad. The ball of a tree root and dirt that is pulled from the ground when a tree is uprooted.

Serviceable condition. A state or ability of a tool, machine, vehicle or other device to operate as it was intended by the manufacturer to operate.

Skidding. The yarding of trees or logs by pulling or towing them across the ground.

Slope (grade). The increase or decrease in altitude over a horizontal distance expressed as a percentage. For example, a change of altitude of 20 feet (6 m) over a horizontal distance of 100 feet (30 m) is expressed as a 20 percent slope.

Snag. Any standing dead tree or portion thereof.

Spring pole. A tree, segment of a tree, limb, or sapling which is under stress or tension due to the pressure or weight of another object.

Tie down. Chain, cable, steel strips or fiber webbing and binders attached to a truck, trailer or other conveyance as a means to secure loads and to prevent them from shifting or moving when they are being transported.

Undercut. A notch cut in a tree to guide the direction of the tree fall and to prevent splitting or kickback.

Vehicle. A car, bus, truck, trailer or semi-trailer owned, leased or rented by the employer that is used for transportation of employees or movement of material.

Winching. The winding of cable or rope onto a spool or drum.

Yarding. The movement of logs from the place they are felled to a landing.

General requirements -

Personal protective equipment.

The employer shall assure that each employee wears foot protection, such as heavy-duty logging boots that are waterproof or water repellant, cover and provide support to the ankle. The employer shall assure that each employee who operates a chain saw wears foot protection that is constructed with cut-resistant material which will protect the employee against contact with a running chain saw. Sharp, calk-soled boots or other slip-resistant type boots may be worn where the employer demonstrates that they are necessary for the employee's job, the terrain, the timber type, and the weather conditions, provided that foot protection otherwise required by this paragraph is met.

The employer shall provide, at no cost to the employee, and assure that each employee who works in an area where there is potential for head injury from falling or flying objects wears head protection meeting the requirements of subpart I of part 1910.

Eye protection meeting the requirements of subpart I of part 1910 where there is potential for eye injury due to falling or flying objects; and

Face protection meeting the requirements of subpart I of part 1910 where there is potential for facial injury such as, but not limited to, operating a chipper. Logger-type mesh screens may be worn by employees performing chain-saw operations and yarding.

Note to paragraph (d)(1)(vii): The employee does not have to wear a separate eye protection device where face protection covering both the eyes and face is worn.

First-aid kits.

The employer shall provide first-aid kits at each work site where trees are being cut (e.g., felling, bucking, limbing), at each active landing, and on each employee transport vehicle. The number of first-aid kits and the content of each kit shall reflect the degree of isolation, the number of employees, and the hazards reasonably anticipated at the work site.

At a minimum, each first-aid kit shall contain the items listed in appendix A at all times.

Seat belts. For each vehicle or machine (equipped with ROPS/FOPS or overhead guards), including any vehicle or machine provided by an employee, the employer shall assure:

That each machine seat belt meets the requirements of the Society of Automotive Engineers Standard SAE J386, June 1985, "Operator Restraint Systems for Off-Road Work Machines", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6.

Fire extinguishers. The employer shall provide and maintain portable fire extinguishers on each machine and vehicle in accordance with the requirements of subpart L of part 1910.

Environmental conditions. All work shall terminate and each employee shall move to a place of safety when environmental conditions, such as but not limited to, electrical storms, strong winds which may affect the fall of a tree, heavy rain or snow, extreme cold, dense fog, fires, mudslides, and darkness, create a hazard for the employee in the performance of the job.

Work areas.

Signaling and signal equipment.

Overhead electric lines.

Flammable and combustible liquids.

Flammable and combustible liquids shall be stored, handled, transported, and used in accordance with the requirements of subpart H of part 1910.

Each machine, vehicle, and portable powered tool shall be shut off during fueling. Diesel-powered machines and vehicles may be fueled while they are at idle, provided that continued operation is intended and that the employer follows safe fueling and operating procedures.

Explosives and blasting agents.

Hand and portable powered tools -

General requirements.

Chain saws.

Each chain saw placed into initial service after the effective date of this section shall be equipped with a chain brake and shall otherwise meet the requirements of the ANSI B175.1-1991 "Safety Requirements for Gasoline-Powered Chain Saws", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6. Each chain saw placed into service before the effective date of this section shall be equipped with a protective device that minimizes chain-saw kickback. No chain-saw kickback device shall be removed or otherwise disabled.

Machines -

General requirements.

Machine operation.

To maintain stability, the machine must be operated within the limitations imposed by the manufacturer as described in the operating and maintenance instructions for that machine.

Each moving element such as, but not limited to blades, buckets, saws and shears, shall be lowered to the ground or otherwise secured.

Protective structures.

Each tractor, skidder, swing yarder, log stacker, log loader and mechanical felling device, such as tree shears or feller-buncher, placed into initial service after February 9, 1995, shall be equipped with falling object protective structure (FOPS) and/or rollover protective structure (ROPS). The employer shall replace FOPS or ROPS which have been removed from any machine. Exception: This requirement does not apply to machines which are capable of 360 degree rotation.

Each machine manufactured after August 1, 1996, shall have ROPS tested, installed, and maintained in accordance with the Society of Automotive Engineers SAE J1040, April 1988, "Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) for Construction, Earthmoving, Forestry, and Mining Machines", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6.

This incorporation by reference was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies may be obtained from the Society of Automotive Engineers, 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096. Copies may be inspected at the Docket Office, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., room N2625, Washington, DC 20210, or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.

FOPS shall be installed, tested and maintained in accordance with the Society of Automotive Engineers SAE J231, January 1981, "Minimum Performance Criteria for Falling Object Protective Structures (FOPS)", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6.

ROPS and FOPS shall meet the requirements of the Society of Automotive Engineers SAE J397, April 1988, "Deflection Limiting Volume-ROPS/FOPS Laboratory Evaluation", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6.

Overhead guards. Each forklift shall be equipped with an overhead guard meeting the requirements of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME B56.6-1992 (with addenda), "Safety Standard for Rough Terrain Forklift Trucks", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6.

Machine access.

Machine access systems, meeting the specifications of the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE J185, June 1988, "Recommended Practice for Access Systems for Off-Road Machines", which is incorporated by reference as specified in § 1910.6, shall be provided for each machine where the operator or any other employee must climb onto the machine to enter the cab or to perform maintenance.

Exhaust systems.

Brakes.

Guarding.

Vehicles.

Tree harvesting -

General requirements.

Domino felling of trees is prohibited.

Note to paragraph (h)(1)(ix): The definition of domino felling does not include the felling of a single danger tree by felling another single tree into it.

Manual felling.

The backcut shall be above the level of the horizontal facecut in order to provide an adequate platform to prevent kickback. Exception: The backcut may be at or below the horizontal facecut in tree pulling operations.

Note to paragraph (h)(2)(vii): This requirement does not apply to open face felling where two angled facecuts rather than a horizontal facecut are used.

Limbing and bucking.

Chipping (in-woods locations).

Yarding.

Loading and unloading.

Transport. The transport vehicle operator shall assure that each tie down is tight before transporting the load. While enroute, the operator shall check and tighten the tie downs whenever there is reason to believe that the tie downs have loosened or the load has shifted.

Storage. Each deck shall be constructed and located so it is stable and provides each employee with enough room to safely move and work in the area.

Training.

Frequency. Training shall be provided as follows:

Content. At a minimum, training shall consist of the following elements:

Portability of training.

First-aid training.

The employer shall assure that each employee, including supervisors, receives or has received first-aid and CPR training meeting at least the requirements specified in appendix B.

Certification of training.

Safety and health meetings. The employer shall hold safety and health meetings as necessary and at least each month for each employee. Safety and health meetings may be conducted individually, in crew meetings, in larger groups, or as part of other staff meetings.

Appendices. Appendices A and B of this section are mandatory. The information contained in appendix C of this section is informational and is not intended to create any additional obligations not otherwise imposed or to detract from existing regulations.

Note: In the FEDERAL REGISTER of August 9, 1995, OSHA extended the stay of the following paragraphs of § 1910.266 until September 8, 1995. The remaining requirements of § 1910.266, which became effective on February 9, 1995, are unaffected by the extension of the partial stay:

1. (d)(1)(v) - insofar as it requires foot protection to be chain-saw resistant.
2. (d)(1)(vii) - insofar as it required face protection.
3. (d)(2)(iii).
4. (f)(2)(iv).
5. (f)(2)(xi).
6. (f)(3)(ii).
7. (f)(3)(vii).
8. (f)(3)(viii).
9. (f)(7)(ii) - insofar as it requires parking brakes to be able to stop a moving machine.
10. (g)(1) and (g)(2) insofar as they require inspection and maintenance of employee-owned vehicles.
11. (h)(2)(vii) - insofar as it precludes backcuts at the level of the horizontal cut of the undercut when the Humboldt cutting method is used.