Occupational safety in forestry in 2009-2016

The article presents the assessment of occupational safety in Polish forestry in the period of 2009−2016. The basic criteria for analysis of accident rate were based on the form of the statistical card of accident at work. The research analysed the data about accidents at work published by the Central Statistical Office in Poland. The aim of the research was: (i) to determine the variability of the number of people injured in total accidents, in serious accidents, and in fatal accidents, number of people employed, and number of days of incapacity to work caused by accidents; (ii) to check the relationships between the cause of the accident and the year of its occurrence, between the age of the injured and the number of accidents, between the work seniority of the injured and the number of accidents, and finally (iii) to determine the value and volatility of total accident rate per 1,000 employees, the rate of serious accidents per 100,000 employed, the rate of fatalities per 100,000 employed, accident severity rate per 1 injured as well as accident risk indicator per 1 employee. The most important cause of accidents at work in forestry was incorrect employee behavior (57.9%). The dominant events causing injury in forestry were impact by the object in motion and collision with/impact on a stationary object (26.7 and 22.6%, respectively). The most common accidents at work in forestry concern employees with work seniority in the field of over 16 years and less than a year (30.6 and 23.23%, respectively), people aged 30−39 and 40−49 (24.55 and 24.52%, respectively). The value of total accident rate in forestry shows a decreasing trend in 2011−2016 (–20.5%). The rate of serious and fatal accidents alternately increases and decreases. Similarly to the value of the severity of accidents, no trends were found. For the accident risk indicator a declining trend was observed in 2012−2016 (–19.3%)