Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland
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...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Rural Health
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.journalssystem.com/aaem/Occupational-hazards-in-opinions-of-forestry-employees-in-Poland,106246,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1830477232536027136 |
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| author | Anna Pecyna Agnieszka Buczaj Stanisław Lachowski Piotr Choina Małgorzata Goździewska Elżbieta Monika Galińska |
| author_facet | Anna Pecyna Agnieszka Buczaj Stanisław Lachowski Piotr Choina Małgorzata Goździewska Elżbieta Monika Galińska |
| author_sort | Anna Pecyna |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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.
Material and methods
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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T16:10:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-49ba986f95b64f42a08316fff0f3c9c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1232-1966 1898-2263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T16:10:07Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Rural Health |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-49ba986f95b64f42a08316fff0f3c9c52022-12-21T18:57:49ZengInstitute of Rural HealthAnnals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine1232-19661898-22632019-06-0126224224810.26444/aaem/106246106246Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in PolandAnna Pecyna0Agnieszka Buczaj1Stanisław Lachowski2Piotr Choina3Małgorzata Goździewska4Elżbieta Monika Galińska5University of Life Sciences in Lublin, PolandUniversity of Life Sciences in Lublin, PolandMaria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, PolandDepartment of Medical Anthropology, Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, PolandDepartment of Medical Anthropology, Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, PolandDepartment of Biological Health Hazards and Parasitology, Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, PolandIntroduction 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. Material and methods 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.http://www.journalssystem.com/aaem/Occupational-hazards-in-opinions-of-forestry-employees-in-Poland,106246,0,2.htmloccupational hazardsforestryWork Safety and Occupational Hygieneemployees’ awareness |
| spellingShingle | Anna Pecyna Agnieszka Buczaj Stanisław Lachowski Piotr Choina Małgorzata Goździewska Elżbieta Monika Galińska Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine occupational hazards forestry Work Safety and Occupational Hygiene employees’ awareness |
| title | Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland |
| title_full | Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland |
| title_fullStr | Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland |
| title_short | Occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in Poland |
| title_sort | occupational hazards in opinions of forestry employees in poland |
| topic | occupational hazards forestry Work Safety and Occupational Hygiene employees’ awareness |
| url | http://www.journalssystem.com/aaem/Occupational-hazards-in-opinions-of-forestry-employees-in-Poland,106246,0,2.html |
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