Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 36(5): September 2010 pational Safety and Health 1993). Leigh et al. (2004) concluded that the Bureau of Labor Statistics misses between 33% and 69% of industrial nonfatal occupational injuries. There is also signifi- cant underreporting in their fatality reporting (Azaroff et al. 2002). A key to improving safety in the tree care profession is to have a better understanding of the current state of safety training as well as the types and frequency of accidents, both fatal and nonfatal. The objectives of this study were to survey tree care company managers on their safety training programs and the types and frequency of accidents that occurred in their company during a five-year period. METHODS A 2007 survey was conducted of the commercial tree care industry in the United States using a mail survey. A com- pany was defined by a business address, meaning a large, re- gional or national tree company may have each of their of- fices considered as a company. A total of 775 questionnaires were mailed to tree care companies across the United States. The companies selected to receive a questionnaire were based on a stratified random sampling (Cochran 1977), with a propor- tional allocation (Kish 1965), by segmenting the country into regions and city population size. The five geographical regions; northeast, southeast, north-central and western, were identical to that used by other surveys, including a survey of city forestry programs by Gjedraitis and Kielbaso (1982). The number of sur- veys sent out to each region was almost proportional to their total resident population as provided by the 2000 United States census (Census Bureau 2001). City population was segmented into five categories ranging from cities over one million to cities less than 50,000 populations. Cities were selected proportional to the num- ber in each size category within a region. The final selection of a particular city was from a random selection of cities within a par- ticular category. This proportional allocation procedure was based upon the assumption that the number of tree companies in any region or city was proportional to that of their general population. Companies sent questionnaires were randomly selected from the local telephone company’s Yellow Page line directory of tree care providers for a selected community. Each compa- ny was assigned a number and the number selected was taken from the random numbers table in Freese (1962). This selec- tion process created a coverage error of companies that do not advertise, even by a line ad, in their local directory. This may have eliminated some small, one or two-person compa- nies that operate on word-of-mouth and did not advertise in telephone directories. Companies that focus exclusively on utility line clearance work were not included in this survey. The cover letter, reminders, and survey were constructed following the approach outlined by Dillman (2000). A pre- notice letter was sent out a week before the questionnaire to alert company managers to the fact that a questionnaire would soon be arriving and the importance of their prompt response. The questionnaire was sent out with a cover letter again request- ing their response. A third contact was made with a reminder card approximately two weeks after the questionnaire was sent out if a response had not been received and this was fol- lowed by a final request accompanied by another questionnaire. The questionnaire content was crafted by following pro- cedures outlined by Dillman (2000) in his Tailored Design Method. The basic design of the questionnaire requires the 225 first questions or section be the ones that would be of most interest to the audience and the final section be devoted to gathering background data on the respondent. The format of each question, regardless of its placement, must be uniform. Questions regarding accidents were divided into three cat- egories, minor nonfatal, major nonfatal and fatal injuries. We asked for information about accidents that occurred in the company during the past five years (2001–2006). The acci- dents were divided into the same event or exposure categories utilized by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; transportation inci- dents, assaults or violent acts, contact with an object and equip- ment, falls, exposure to a harmful environment or substances and fire. Many of these categories are self-explanatory with the possible exception of “exposure to a harmful environment or substance,” where for tree workers contact with electrical conductors is placed. Contact with an object and equipment in- cludes struck by a trees, limb, chain saw, or caught in a chipper. Additional questions focused on the importance of safety train- ing and what type and frequency of training was conducted within the company. The final section requested background information on the company such as years in business and number of workers. A total of 534 questionnaires were received, of which 506 were useable for a return rate of 65.4%. Between the mailing of the original questionnaire and the postcard reminder, 32.4% of the questionnaires were received. Another 49.1% of the total was received between the mailing of the postcard reminder and the second letter and duplicate questionnaire, and another 18.5% af- ter the mailing of the duplicate questionnaire. The questionnaires all came within a 76 day time period from the mailing of the original questionnaire. The 28 questionnaires that were received, but were not usable, had sections that were not completed, typi- cally the request for background information on the company, or were returned with a note that the company was no longer in business. Returns were almost proportional to population, with more populous states and regions generating more com- pleted questionnaires than smaller ones. Questionnaires were re- ceived from every state except Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming. RESULTS The median number of field employees in the surveyed companies was 6 with a mean of 10.2 and a range of 1 to 43. There was mean an- nual turnover of 1.6 field employees. Approximately half the com- panies had a gross annual income of less than USD $500,000. Less than 5% grossed more than $2.5 million annually. The majority of this income was derived from residential tree work, but also some landscaping and lawn care. Approximately 13% of the companies were members of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA). The need to have trained fieldworkers was identified as “very important” by 87.9% of the company managers. The remainder indicated that it was somewhat important. This contrasts with the percentage of managers that actually reported any formal train- ing program for their companies. A formal training program is one that has a structured format and curriculum, such as planned monthly safety programs and periodic workshops. Only 62.1% of the managers indicated that their company had a formal train- ing program for their field workers and only 72% of these com- panies trained new workers before placing them in the field. There are vehicles, machines, and tools used by many tree care companies with the most common being trucks and other vehi- ©2010 International Society of Arboriculture
September 2010
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