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Notice to Readers NIOSH Alert: Request for Assistance in Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Loggers

CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) periodically issues alerts on workplace hazards that have caused death, serious injury, or illness to workers. One such alert, Request for Assistance in Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Loggers (1), was recently published and is available to the public. *

This alert warns workers in the logging industry that they are at high risk for injury and death if they do not use proper safety procedures and equipment. The National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities Surveillance System indicates that during 1980-1989, approximately 6400 U.S. workers died each year from traumatic injuries in the workplace. During this time, an estimated 1492 of these deaths occurred in the logging industry, where the average annual fatality rate is more than 23 times that for all U.S. workers (164 deaths per 100,000 workers, compared with seven per 100,000). Most of these logging-associated deaths occurred in four occupational groups: logging (e.g., fellers, limbers, buckers, and choker setters), truck drivers, general laborers, and material machine operators. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 1992 that logging had a workplace injury rate of more than 14,000 injuries per 100,000 full-time workers, compared with 8000 per 100,000 for the total private sector.

The alert describes six fatal incidents that involved workers in the logging industry during October 1991-May 1993 and provides recommendations for workers and employers to prevent logging-related deaths and injuries.

Reference

  1. NIOSH. Request for assistance in preventing injuries and deaths of loggers. Cincinnati: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, CDC, 1994; DHHS publication no. (NIOSH)94-101.

  • Single copies of this document are available without charge from the Publications Office, Division of Standards Development and Technology Transfer, NIOSH, CDC, Mailstop C-13, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998; telephone (800) 356-4674 ({513} 533-8328 for persons outside the United States); fax (513) 533-8573.


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