Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland

Abstract

Introduction. Work in forestry has been and continues to be considered a very difficult and risky occupation, with constant exposure to certain factors which create risk for employees' health or even life. The objective of the study is recognition of the opinions of forestry workers concerning health risk, and to evaluate which of their selected demographic characteristics are connected with opinions concerning hazards at the workplace. Materials and method. An author-constructed survey was conducted among 135 forestry employees, containing items concerning primarily hazards occurring at workplaces in forestry. Forestry employees' opinions pertaining to occupational hazards were analyzed from the aspect of independent variables, such as workplace, period of employment, age and education. The significance of the differences in the subgroups distinguished according to the above-mentioned variables, were assessed using the chi-square test. Results. Forestry employees most often indicated risk related with cold (83.7%) and hot (77%) microclimate. A high percentage of respondents (74.1%) were aware of the presence of biological hazards and risk caused by the possibility of contact with wild animals (55.6%) at their workplace. In addition, a considerable part of workers reported that the source of risk at their workplace is noise (34.1%), especially dangerous machinery (26.7%), dust (18.5%), chemical substances (15.6%), and forced body position at work (14.1%). Conclusions. Based on the results of the study concerning work safety and occupational hygiene among forestry employees, it was found that they are aware of hazards which may occur at their workplaces. The greatest differences in the perception of hazards were observed according to the type of workplace and period of employment.

Causes of accidents at work in the opinions of public sector forestry employees in Poland

“…Only 3 causes of accidents indicated by the respondents (inadequate psychophysical state of an employee, inadequate state of machinery, equipment, and vehicles, and lack of trainings in OSH) were perceived in a significantly different way by foresters, forestry rangers and office employees. In the study by Grzywiński et al [1], the workplace occupied exerted a definite effect on the number of accidents occurring. The largest number of victims occurred in the position of labourer, while the lowest number of events were noted among office employees.…”

“…The survey was conducted using an author-constructed questionnaire designed by a team of specialists in the area of ergonomics, OSH, and sociology within the research project of the University of Natural Sciences in association with the Institute of Rural Health and the Marie-Curie University in Lublin. The questionnaire contained items pertaining to hazards occurring at workplaces in forestry, questions about the respondents' opinions concerning causes of occupational accidents, and the protection measures applied (a detailed description of the research instrument in: Pecyna et al [1]).…”

Assessing the Impact of Work Activities on the Physiological Load in a Sample of Loggers in Sicily (Italy)

“…There are no specific studies examining the correlation between HR and risk perception of forestry workers, but a few studies in the literature have investigated general hazard perception. A study by Pecyna and Buczaj [32] suggested that, among a group of 135 forestry workers, the most relevant risk perception was hot and cold microclimates, biological risk, and contact with wild animals, followed by dangerous machinery, chemical substances, and awkward postures.…”

Vitamin D and upper respiratory tract infections in young active males exposed to cold environments

“…Performing indoor and outdoor work in cold environments may result in various adverse effects on human health -cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal or dermatological injuries and/or illness may be worsened by cold exposure [1,2,3,4,5]. These health conditions may decrease physical performance and productivity, and increase the occurrence of accidents [1].…”