Mechanical timber harvesting reduces workers' compensation injury claims in West Virginia.
Source
Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2005-129, 2005 May; :1-4
Abstract
Logging companies in West Virginia using mechanized harvesters had a significantly lower workers' compensation injury claim rate than did the rest of the West Virginia logging industry. Companies that were only partially mechanized (feller buncher plus chainsaw operators/fellers) still showed a significant reduction in the rate of injury claims. The use of mechanized fellers will be limited in some areas because of economic and other constraints such as the cost of purchasing fellers and the steepness of the terrain in West Virginia . However, the West Virginia logging industry as a whole may see substantial declines in injury claim rates if mechanized fellers are used whenever possible.
Keywords
Accident-prevention; Accidents; Accident-rates; Logging-workers; Lumber-industry-workers; Lumber-industry; Lumberjacks; Forestry-workers; Forestry; Injuries; Injury-prevention
Contact
Jennifer L. Bell, Ph.D., National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, 1095 Willowdale Road, MS -1811, Morgantown, WV 26505-2888
Document Type
Numbered Publication
Email Address
JBell@cdc.gov
Identifying No.
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2005-129
Priority Area
Research Tools and Approaches: Intervention Effectiveness Research
Source Name
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
