Throwing wrappers was one of my assigned duties as a chaser on a gyppo side in the 1980’s. All wrappers were the same cable with chains on the end things. I was young and thought nothing of the motion. Heck, everything out there was trying to kill me. Helping the truck drivers get out of the landing was one of the safest things I could do.
That very motion of throwing over-your-shoulder has led to many soft tissue injuries in Oregon’s forest over the years. Some of the same truck drivers from my time as a chaser are still behind the wheel. The push has been for several years to eliminate worker shoulder injuries. New, light-weight wrappers and configurations have been a step in the right direction.
Eliminating wrappers from log truck--load securement is now not only feasible, but a new method is in-practice in Northern Europe. The ‘COM 90’ system from the Swedish firm ExTe Fabriks AB is a viable alternative.
Check out the company website and videos with these links.
I found out about this system by reading the WorkSafeBC publication on load securement technologies, available here.
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