NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search

Occupational injuries in Ohio wood product manufacturing: a descriptive analysis with emphasis on saw-related injuries and associated causes.

Beery L; Harris JR; Collins JW; Current RS; Amendola AA; Meyers AR; Wurzelbacher SJ; Lampl M; Bertke SJ

Am J Ind Med 2014 Nov; 57(11):1265-1275

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22360

20044918

Background: Stationary sawing machinery is often a basic tool in the wood product manufacturing industry and was the source for over 2,500 injury/illness events that resulted in days away from work in 2010. Methods: We examined 9 years of workers' compensation claims for the state of Ohio in wood product manufacturing with specific attention to saw-related claims. For the study period, 8,547 claims were evaluated; from this group, 716 saw-related cases were examined. Results: The sawmills and wood preservation sub-sector experienced a 71% reduction in average incidence rate and an 87% reduction in average lost-time incidence rate from 2001 to 2009. The top three injury category descriptions for lost-time incidents within saw-related claims were fracture (35.8%), open wounds (29.6%), and amputation (14.8%). Conclusions: For saw-related injuries, preventing blade contact remains important but securing the work piece to prevent kickback is also important.

Wood-products; Wood; Woodworking-industry; Woodworking-equipment; Woodworking; Woodworkers; Sawmill-workers; Workers; Work-environment; Work-areas; Equipment-operators; Equipment-design; Injuries; Exposure-limits; Risk-factors; Tools; Shift-workers; Shift-work; Repetitive-work; Machine-tools; Machine-operation; Machine-guarding; Demographic-characteristics; Behavior; Ergonomics; Author Keywords: saws; machine safety; blade; kickback; wood