Overview of Health and Safety Risks in the Process of Production and Storage of Forest Biomass for Energy Purposes—A Review

Abstract

With increasing demands on the quality and quantity of produced biomass, as the main element of the knowledge-based economy, people and the issue of safety and health protection at work are coming to the fore. The aim of the work is the synthesis and overview of the results of the analysis of the health and safety risks of the production of forest biomass in various production phases, starting with its cultivation, through the harvesting production and transport process, up to the issue of its safe storage until it is used for the production of primary energy. Based on the analyzed overview of the existing risks in the production and storage of biomass, it can be concluded that the largest number of works is dedicated to the technological process of storage and consumption of the produced forms of biomass. Of the risks in this phase, the largest number of works is devoted to the risks of the production of spores of phytopathogens and fungi threatening human health. Further research should be primarily oriented toward creating models and modeling the processes of the emergence of these risk factors and the dynamics of their growth.