Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 46(2): March 2020 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2020. 46(2):67–83 URBAN FORESTRY ARBORICULTURE Scientific Journal of the International Society of Arboriculture & A Review of United States Arboricultural Operation Fatal and Nonfatal Incidents (2001–2017): Implications for Safety Training By John Ball, Shane J. Vosberg, and Timothy Walsh Abstract. The objective of this study was to identify and quantify the hazards present during arboricultural operations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Fatality and Catastrophe incident database and other Bureau of Labor Statistic sources were analyzed for arboricul- tural operation incidents within the 17-year period from 2001 through 2017. There were 865 fatal and 441 nonfatal incidents reviewed from this period. The leading four fatal incidents, from the largest to the smallest number of fatalities, were climber falls, workers struck by a falling tree, workers making indirect contact with an electric current, and workers struck by a falling branch. Climber falls were also the leading incident for severe nonfatal injuries, followed by ground workers struck by a falling branch, workers struck by a chain saw, and falls by aerial device operators. The American National Standards Institute Z133 American National Standard for Arboricultural Operations—Safety Requirements establishes safety requirements and recommendations for arboricultural operations in the United States. It addresses common hazard sources and has guidelines to avoid, eliminate, or reduce them. Safety training programs should emphasize the most common hazard sources for fatal and nonfatal incidents and follow the ANSI Z. Keywords. ANSI Z; Arborist Safety; Hazards; Incidents; Training. 67 INTRODUCTION Occupational injuries were once accepted as an inher- ent element of hazardous work (Dedobbeleer and Beland 1991). Today a safety culture prevails with a focus on understanding why injuries occur, not merely accepting them (Griffin and Neal 2000). One reflec- tion of this change is the replacement of the word “accident” with “incident” for unplanned and undesired events. Accidents are unplanned and uncontrolled events in which an action results in personal injury (Heinrich et al. 1980). The word “uncontrolled” implies the action is random and unavoidable (Salomone and Pons 2007). Incidents, while also unplanned, are avoidable and preventable. The U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recommends using the word “incident” for work-related events in which an injury occurred (OSHA 2015a). Since the 1930s, compilations of arboricultural operation incidents have been published from per- sonal observations, government statistics, and industry surveys. Regardless of the period or survey method- ology, the most common incidents were contact with electric current, falls, and being struck by an object (Kiplinger 1938; Kummerling 1948; McGarry 1962; Wiatrowski 2005; Castillo and Menendez 2009; Ball and Vosberg 2010). While these authors separated incidents in broad event categories (e.g., contact with an object, falls), they did not identify specific hazards. A hazard is any source—equipment, machinery, or activity—of potential harm to people (Oleske et al. 1989; OSHA 2012). Identifying specific hazard sources is essential to managing safety (Northwood et al. 2012). A beginning step to avoid, eliminate, or reduce hazards is identifying sources most often asso- ciated with injury, the frequency of these incidents, if the injuries are fatal or nonfatal, and the traumatic injuries common to the nonfatal incidents. It is equally important to know what industry stan- dards are already in place to avoid, eliminate, or reduce hazard sources. The ANSI Z133 American National Standard for Arboricultural Operations ©2020 International Society of Arboriculture
March 2020
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