Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia
Timber harvesting, especially motor-manual felling, in Croatia, as in many other countries, is one of the most hazardous economic activities. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the latest trends and risk factors related to the incidence of work-induced injuries in structur...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/10/1356 |
| _version_ | 1797514569388654592 |
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| author | Matija Landekić Ivan Martinić David Mijoč Matija Bakarić Mario Šporčić |
| author_facet | Matija Landekić Ivan Martinić David Mijoč Matija Bakarić Mario Šporčić |
| author_sort | Matija Landekić |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Timber harvesting, especially motor-manual felling, in Croatia, as in many other countries, is one of the most hazardous economic activities. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the latest trends and risk factors related to the incidence of work-induced injuries in structural organization units of national forest enterprise. A combined approach of literature review and assembled secondary data was applied to gather data on workplace accidents over the years 2014–2020. Work-induced injuries data were drawn from the records of the national enterprise Croatian Forests Ltd. which manages state forests (76% of total forest area). A total of 1626 work-induced injuries were processed and entered into the database. Data analysis was conducted using statistical and descriptive methods. Research results have proven a significant difference in the injury rate over the years 2014–2020 in the Croatian forest enterprise. During the analysed period the highest number of workplace accidents (51.35% of all recorded workplace accidents) occurred during the forest harvesting phase, i.e., during motor-manual felling. Trends in the incidence of work-induced injuries in the observed period do not show any significant improvement. The key findings have pointed out that forest administrations which practice even-aged forest management have 25% or more injuries than forest administrations which practice selective forest management. Related to the average rate of change by forest administration, the largest annual increase or decrease of the selected safety indicators is recorded for smallest forest administrations. Related to total number of injuries, the smallest forest administrations have the least injuries and show statistically significant difference compared to large forest administrations. When comparing the number of injuries per 1000 employees, medium sized forest administrations have the highest value of indicator and show statistical significance. Discussion and conclusion of the paper emphasizes the need for systematic research in the field of ergonomy, safety and health of forest workers in Croatian forestry sector. Additionally, the development and inclusion of proactive safety culture is recognized as a mechanism that can further reduce work injuries and improve occupational safety which should have a significant role in the process of certification of forest management according to the FSC standard. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:33:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6026d09d95aa44b59bd11b54c08123cf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:33:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-6026d09d95aa44b59bd11b54c08123cf2023-11-22T18:18:23ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072021-10-011210135610.3390/f12101356Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in CroatiaMatija Landekić0Ivan Martinić1David Mijoč2Matija Bakarić3Mario Šporčić4Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10000 Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10000 Zagreb, CroatiaHercegbosanske Šume Ltd. Kupres, Splitska bb, 80320 Kupres, Bosnia and HerzegovinaDepartment of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10000 Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10000 Zagreb, CroatiaTimber harvesting, especially motor-manual felling, in Croatia, as in many other countries, is one of the most hazardous economic activities. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the latest trends and risk factors related to the incidence of work-induced injuries in structural organization units of national forest enterprise. A combined approach of literature review and assembled secondary data was applied to gather data on workplace accidents over the years 2014–2020. Work-induced injuries data were drawn from the records of the national enterprise Croatian Forests Ltd. which manages state forests (76% of total forest area). A total of 1626 work-induced injuries were processed and entered into the database. Data analysis was conducted using statistical and descriptive methods. Research results have proven a significant difference in the injury rate over the years 2014–2020 in the Croatian forest enterprise. During the analysed period the highest number of workplace accidents (51.35% of all recorded workplace accidents) occurred during the forest harvesting phase, i.e., during motor-manual felling. Trends in the incidence of work-induced injuries in the observed period do not show any significant improvement. The key findings have pointed out that forest administrations which practice even-aged forest management have 25% or more injuries than forest administrations which practice selective forest management. Related to the average rate of change by forest administration, the largest annual increase or decrease of the selected safety indicators is recorded for smallest forest administrations. Related to total number of injuries, the smallest forest administrations have the least injuries and show statistically significant difference compared to large forest administrations. When comparing the number of injuries per 1000 employees, medium sized forest administrations have the highest value of indicator and show statistical significance. Discussion and conclusion of the paper emphasizes the need for systematic research in the field of ergonomy, safety and health of forest workers in Croatian forestry sector. Additionally, the development and inclusion of proactive safety culture is recognized as a mechanism that can further reduce work injuries and improve occupational safety which should have a significant role in the process of certification of forest management according to the FSC standard.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/10/1356forestrysafety and healthforest workersoccupational injuriesCroatia |
| spellingShingle | Matija Landekić Ivan Martinić David Mijoč Matija Bakarić Mario Šporčić Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia Forests forestry safety and health forest workers occupational injuries Croatia |
| title | Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia |
| title_full | Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia |
| title_fullStr | Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia |
| title_short | Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia |
| title_sort | injury patterns among forestry workers in croatia |
| topic | forestry safety and health forest workers occupational injuries Croatia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/10/1356 |
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