pg. 6 - SAIF Corporation

Profile Written by Melaney Moisan {SAIF Communications Coordinator} Photos by Lynn Howlett {Salem}
Riding high
Preferred Worker Program gives worker a lift
It was 7:30 on an August morning in 2006, and
Russ Peterson, a foreman for Capital Concrete
Construction, Inc., was already at work in the
woods near Estacada.
“We were falling logs on a Forest Service job to
build a bridge,” he said. “The loader operator was
moving a log off the road when it got away from
him and began rolling towards me.”
They had to cut 100 trees that day, and they were
on number 96. “We were almost finished,” he says,
“and the log began to roll.”
Peterson was unable to get out of the way fast enough
because his leg got stuck in a hole under the soft
dirt. The log rolled up his leg until it was stopped by
a sign. “If the log had rolled all the way over me,” he
says, “it would have probably killed me.”
Peterson had to lie on the ground for three hours
before the ambulance could reach him, and when
they finally got him to the hospital in Troutdale,
the doctor took one look at the injury and sent
him on to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland
so an orthopedic surgeon could repair the leg.
He had a compound fracture of his right leg, with
both the tibia and fibula broken.
Seven hours after the accident, Peterson was
finally headed for surgery. His first surgery lasted
more than three hours, and a second one two
days later took more than two hours. Doctors
placed a titanium rod in the tibia with pins in his
ankle and knee.
Peterson began physical therapy and was released
to modified work in the fall. His employer had him
doing computer work in the office, but Peterson
was eager to get back to his regular duties.
“He asked me if I wanted to stay in the office,” says
Peterson, “but I said no. It’s fine in the winter, but
in the summer, I want to be outside.”
Through the Preferred Worker Program, the
employer was able to purchase a cherry picker
aerial work platform that helped Peterson
return to his work as foreman. In addition to
providing more than $24,000 for the lift, the
Preferred Worker Program (funded through the
Workers’ Compensation Division) will also give
the employer a wage subsidy equal to 50 percent
of Peterson’s wages for six months and premium
relief for this worker for three years.
“He still has some limitations,” says Ken Garcia,
owner of Capital Concrete. “For example, he can’t
climb ladders. The lift works real well for him in
situations like that. I’m just glad to get him back
on the job.”
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