As climate change increases the risk to trees from severe storms, insects, diseases, drought and fire, a Rutgers University study highlights the need for improved safety in tree-care operations.
As climate change increases the risk to trees from severe storms, insects, diseases, drought and fire, a Rutgers University study highlights the need for improved safety in tree-care operations.
According to findings published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, workers employed by tree care experts and licensed arborists were more likely to receive health and safety training and to use personal protective equipment than those employed by companies that are not part of the professional arboriculture network. The research also shows that Spanish-speaking day laborers often had little training or use of personal protective equipment.
Tree care workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in America, regularly encountering heights, slippery conditions, falling limbs, sharp equipment and electrical wires. The incidence of injuries increases after storms when unqualified “storm-chasers” with chainsaws and landscaping companies offer their services to uninformed homeowners. Some municipalities also struggle to handle tree damage with inadequately trained labor and old equipment. Annually, tree care injuries account for about 80 worker deaths and at least 23,000 chainsaw injuries treated in emergency departments. Many of those injuries result from inadequate training and equipment.
“There is a popular misconception that tree removal is low-skill work, but nothing could be further from the truth,” said Michele Ochsner, formerly with Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. “Handling storm-downed trees without injury to people or property involves an array of technical skills and knowledge of how different species of trees respond in different seasons and weather conditions.”
Read more at Rutgers University
Image: Elizabeth Marshall, an environmental and occupational epidemiologist at Rutgers School of Public Health, says that storms and the ensuing long hours performed by tree care workers exacerbate the significant risks posed in what is already one of the most hazardous jobs in the United States. (Credit: Nick Romanenko / Rutgers University)
