FACTS

Logging Operations Health and Safety Risks

1. Mobile equipment. Distracted driving.
2. Substance use. Under the influence of alcohol, prescription or other drugs.
3. ‘Struck by’. Machinery danger zone infractions.
4. Machine lock out, guarding. Not properly locking out, improper equipment isolation.
5. Workers taking shortcuts. Gaps in training, coaching, supervision.
6. Working alone. In remote locations.
7. Regulation. Working directly on public access roads.
8. Fatigue. Fatigue-induced incidents.
9. Lifting equipment. Lifting logs or trees.
10. Maintenance. Mechanics standing on equipment or cylinders to perform maintenance.

STATS

• In 2021 Logging and landscaping are the most dangerous jobs in America, a new study finds. The risk of death for loggers is more than 30 times higher than for all U.S. workers. Tree care workers also encounter hazards at rates far higher than a typical worker.
• The logging industry employed 95,000 workers and accounted for 70 deaths. This results in a fatality rate of 73.7 deaths per 100,000 workers that year. This rate is over 21 times higher than the overall fatality rate in the US (3.4 deaths per 100,000).
• The fatality rate for loggers recently averaged 84 deaths per 100,000 workers. This represents a steady decline in fatalities yet is still 23 times greater than the overall US rate. Washington and Oregon represent about 20% of total US logging employment.
• 1,700 logging employees lost their lives on the job. Over 60% have been timber fallers, an increasingly rare occupation as mechanized felling machines supplant men with chainsaws, yet still the highest risk role on a logging operation. Transportation-related fatalities comprised 20%, many of them truck drivers, though a large portion resulted from injuries to other employees by logging vehicles.
• Logging is characterized by small businesses, comprising only 0.5% of all US employment, but accounts for 2% of all workplace fatalities. Smaller logging contractors have mortality risks ten times higher than larger firms. Injuries are also very common in logging.
• 95 workers were fatally injured in the U.S. logging industry resulting in a fatality rate of 85.6 deaths per 100,000 workers. The fatality rate for all occupations in the U.S. was 4.0 deaths per 100,000 workers.
• 17% of logging employee fatalities are machine related accidents.