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Accident rates and types among self-employed private forest owners
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine. (Arcum)
2010 (English)In: Accident Analysis and Prevention, ISSN 0001-4575, E-ISSN 1879-2057, Vol. 42, no 6, p. 1729-1735Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Half of all Swedish forests are owned by private individuals, and at least 215,000 people work in these privately owned forest holdings. However, only lethal accidents are systematically monitored among self-employed forest workers. Therefore, data from the registries of the Swedish Work Environment Authority, the Labor Insurance Organization and the regional University Hospital in Umeå were gathered to allow us to perform a more in-depth assessment of the rate and types of accidents that occurred among private forest owners. We found large differences between the registries in the type and number of accidents that were reported. We encountered difficulties in defining "self-employed forest worker" and also in determining whether the accidents that did occur happened during work or leisure time. Consequently, the estimates for the accident rate that we obtained varied from 32 to > or = 4300 injured persons per year in Sweden, depending on the registry that was consulted, the definition of the sample population that was used, and the accident severity definition that was employed. Nevertheless, the different registries gave a consistent picture of the types of accidents that occur while individuals are participating in self-employed forestry work. Severe accidents were relatively common, as self-employed forestry work fatalities constituted 7% of the total number of fatalities in the work authority registry. Falling trees were associated with many of these fatal accidents as well as with accidents that resulted in severe non-fatal injuries. Thus, unsafe work methods appeared more related to the occurrence of an accident than the equipment that was being used at the time of the accident (e.g., a chainsaw). Improvement of the workers' skills should therefore be considered to be an important prevention measure that should be undertaken in this field. The challenges in improving the safety in these smallest of companies, which fall somewhere between the purview of occupational and consumer safety, are exemplified and discussed.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2010. Vol. 42, no 6, p. 1729-1735
Keywords [en]
Accident statistics; Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); Micro-companies; Leisure-time injuries; Chainsaw; Firewood; Injuries; Work
National Category
Occupational Health and Environmental Health
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-39302DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.04.013ISI: 000282240500026PubMedID: 20728623Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-77955982693OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-39302DiVA, id: diva2:390387
Available from: 2011-01-21 Created: 2011-01-21 Last updated: 2023-03-24Bibliographically approved

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Burström, Lage

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