Raymond Deaver was clearing the belt on a log-trimming machine at Frank Lumber, a mill in the Santiam Canyon near Mill City, when an accident occurred that nearly ended his career in the timber industry.
"I lost my footing and reached to grab something for support," said Deaver. "I could see I was headed the wrong direction, but it happened too fast to pull back. My hand went into the sprocket." The accident fractured Deaver's left wrist, and resulted in the loss of two fingers and a thumb. He was 20 years old.
"Raymond walked out of the area where he was working on his own," said Jim Frank, one of the mill's owners, "and before they put him in the ambulance, he said he'd be back to work in less than two months." That was in March 2008.
Although Deaver was confident he would soon return to Frank Lumber, he would eventually undergo nine surgeries, including re-attachment of his severed thumb. Going back to work in the mill did not look feasible, but he couldn't imagine doing anything else. He wasn't interested in retraining for a desk job.
"I was born and raised in Mill City," Deaver said, "and I never wanted to do anything except work around the trees. My family was involved in the lumber industry, and I enjoy the scenery and being close to the mountains."
In October 2008, around the same time Deaver was ready to return to work, Frank Lumber's owners were launching their new venture: Frank Pellets LLC. The business would manufacture pellets for wood stoves under the brand name of Packsaddle Pellets, and they would be hiring.
"Creating wood pellets gave us another use for the wood shavings that are a byproduct of surfacing lumber at the planing mill," said Frank. "Because almost all of our products are kiln-dried (bark from the logs is used for fuel) the resulting shavings are the perfect moisture content to pelletize without additional drying."
"We decided that operating the forklift in the new mill would be a perfect fit for Ray," said Frank.
"I never had any doubts," said Deaver. "The Franks are great employers and good people. I knew Jim and Dennis [Frank, a co-owner] would be understanding, and that they'd have a job for me."
"Ray's attitude was really good, and he has a great work ethic," said Frank. "He's not the kind of guy to stay home doing nothing, but going back to doing the work he did on the mill floor would have been almost impossible."
"When I came back, the Franks took into consideration that my hand might be a problem, and this job has worked out really well," said Deaver. "The pellet mill is a great environment. If I need to take a minute because my hand is bothering me, I can do that. The lumber mill was more intense, and the fast pace there would have been hard."
But when asked if his hand bothers him very often, he just smiles. "It's nothing I'm going to complain about. I'm glad to be back at work."
"Frank Lumber cares about their employees." said Brian Fast, SAIF senior account representative. "They want to do what is right and have consistently found modified work for their injured workers. In the process, they have reduced their overall claims cost."
Frank Lumber rehired Raymond Deaver as a Preferred Worker. The Preferred Worker Program, administered by DCBS, provides incentives for companies to hire workers who, because of past injury, cannot return to their regular work. Incentives include exemption from paying workers' comp premiums, wage subsidies, claim cost reimbursement, and reimbursement for worksite modification and equipment.
(Reprinted from Comp News, Spring 2010)