Melissa Emerson loves hiking to little-known areas of the Sunshine Coast in search of wooden benches built by her dad, Darren Emerson, who died in 2022 as the result of a logging accident.
“He really loved logging and woodwork and he built these little secret benches that he left everywhere and I go to them sometimes,” says Melissa. “They're hidden, though. I could never explain to you where they are, but they look out on Salmon Inlet and places like that. Wherever there was a good view, he put a bench.”
After building a bench, Darren Emerson would carve a “D” into it, so Melissa knows when she’s found a bench built by her dad.
“He would make us things for Christmas out of wood. So, he really loved logging and woodwork,” she says.
Darren Emerson was a subcontractor working as a faller at a logging site near Egmont on the Sunshine Coast when he was killed in the accident, Jan. 24, 2022. A WorkSafeBC investigation into Emerson’s death, which recently concluded, resulted in $2,500 fines for both Suncoast Industries Inc. and subcontractor Forestech Industries Ltd.
WorkSafeBC determined the accident was caused in part by insufficient supervision, the fact the undercut to the tree was too deep, the tree was heavily rotted, and the lack of a wedge, which may have prevented the tree from sitting back and breaking off.
Contributing factors noted in the report include the fact Suncoast did not ensure Forestech, the prime contractor it hired, fulfilled its responsibility to both plan and oversee the forestry operation in a manner consistent with regulations and with safe work practices acceptable to WorkSafeBC. As well, the investigation found Forestech failed to ensure that falling and bucking activities were planned. The Suncoast representative stated Forestech was hired as the prime contractor to ensure the operation maintained a safe work environment for the workers.
According to BC Timber Sales, a provincial government agency, which manages timber harvesting on Crown land, all individuals, corporations, or partnerships that provide direction to workers or contractors who work or operate on timber supply licence areas, must be certified as SAFE companies, a certification designed to assist companies in improving their safety performance and to evaluate company programs to industry standards.
The report found:
- Forestech did not produce any documentation to show it was SAFE certified when it entered into the written agreement with Suncoast.
- Forestech was not SAFE certified at the time of the incident.
- Forestech had previously earned a Certificate of Recognition (COR), a voluntary WorkSafeBC initiative, which recognizes employers who go beyond the legal requirements of the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
- Forestech was not COR certified at the time of the incident.
- Once the operation began, Suncoast hired a log broker whose main role was assessing the value of the timber and performing quality control. The broker stated he did technically ensure that Forestech was operating safely, but could not explain how he verified this. The broker had never visited the incident location.
Meanwhile, Melissa Emerson describes her dad’s death as a complete “fluke.”
“I don't blame anybody for my dad,” says Emerson. “He was pretty good at his job and it just sucks, because that little tree had to get him after all those big trees.
"I was looking at that tree and I thought, maybe I'm not close enough because it doesn't look as big as what I was expecting. It was definitely a fluke accident," she said. "He would be cursing down at that small tree right now after all the big ones that he's ever cut down.”
Emerson says her dad used to bring her tree fungus from the forest, which she still uses to paint after they dry out, and now treasures. Another memory she shared, was the feeling of just how much their dad loved her and her sister Ashley.
“He would play with us, wrestle with us on the trampoline, and it was just feeling really secure and loved by my dad,” says Emerson. "That's what I think about the most, about my dad and how much love he had for us.”
