Work-Related Fatalities Associated with Tree Care Operations – United States, 1992–2007

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Castillo, Dawn N. ; Chaumont Menéndez, Cammie K.
• Description:
  Workers in various industries and occupations are involved in the care and maintenance of trees, such as tree trimming, pruning, and removal. This work is recognized as having many safety hazards. Although previous analyses have involved subgroups of workers who perform this type of work, no analysis has focused on identifying injured workers from all industries and occupations that perform tree care operations. This report summarizes the characteristics of fatal occupational injuries, using data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and a case series of fatality investigations conducted by CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program. During 1992--2007,* a total of 1,285 workers died while performing tree care and maintenance; 44% were trimming or pruning a tree when fatally injured. The most common causes of death were being struck by or against an object (42% of deaths), most commonly a tree or branch; falls to a lower level (34%); and electrocutions (14%). Most of the decedents (57%) worked for small establishments with 10 or fewer employees. Employers, trade and worker associations, and policymakers should take additional steps to improve the safety of workers involved in tree care, such as providing formal training to workers and ensuring that personal protective equipment (e.g., fall protection equipment) is used properly. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Fires Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Electrocutions Injuries Landscape-services-workers Maintenance-workers Mortality-data Mortality-rates Outdoors Small-businesses Statistical-analysis Surveillance Traumatic-injuries

  More +
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Utterback, David F.
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035569
• Citation:
  MMWR 2009 Apr; 58(15):389-393
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b3618b0a6ae5b62700ca1e4ecfeb88627c6c38af1350ccf7896f53ed7fafeee9848c28c03be91422f7aad81e863ca3282b6fdbf3fefd78b7c50eb1d13d02829d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183351/cdc_183351_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 139.39 KB ]