Rally calls for safer logging practices

Rally calls for safer logging practices - By Sandra McCulloch, Victoria Times Colonist
Talk of logging companies upgrading their safety programs brought only scoffs from many of those gathered in Chemainus on Thursday.

"I'm here to support safety awareness for the B.C. loggers because too many have died this year," said rally organizer Glynis Eve, whose husband was a logger for 23 years. Eve is founder of the Vancouver Island Loggers Safety Support Group.

"We are not the enemy, we are an independent group of concerned citizens," she said.

Changing to longer stretches of working days -- to six or 10 days in a row from five days -- is making loggers tired and prone to accidents, she said. She vowed the group will act "to ensure our loved ones' place of employment returns to the respectable camps they once were."

Recent changes are putting loggers at risk, said Scott Baird, who has worked in the logging industry, as has his family. "Because we've gone to contract logging, corners are being cut and safety is the first sacrifice [companies] seem to make."