Forestry work-related injuries in forest estate ''Sremska Mitrovica" in Serbia

Abstract

In most developed countries forestry is among the occupations with the highest rate of occupational injuries. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and main causes of occupational injuries in Serbian forestry. The data were collected in the area managed by the Forest estate (FE) ''Sremska Mitrovica" for the period from 151 January 2008 to 31St December 2012. The analyses involved workers engaged in different forest work operations (logger, manual loader, silvicultural worker and driver). The data analysis showed that light injuries account for 95% of all occupational injuries, while severe occupational injuries account for 5% of them. In the analyzed period there were no fatal injuries. The percentage of injuries in the total number of workers is 12%. The most commonly injured workers were loggers (68%). According to the analysis, every fourth logger was injured, and the largest number of them were injured once (99 workers). Twenty-six of them were injured twice during the same period and 9 three or more times. The average logger age was 38.8, and their average length of service was 16 years. The largest number of logger injuries occurred in March and May, on Mondays (almost 1/3 of injuries) in the period from 10 to 11 AM, and the most frequently injured body parts were the legs (38%) and arms (35%). The most common cause of injury is the blow of a branch (35%).