Occupational Fatal Injuries Associated with Mobile Hand-Fed Wood Chippers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gelberg K ; Zhu J
• Description:
  Background: Workers are killed every year in wood chipper-related incidents despite the repeated hazard warnings. In-depth, comprehensive, and up-to-date studies are needed to identify causal, risk, and contributing factors and assess the current control measures so that an effective and proactive prevention approach can be developed. Methods: Cases were identified from four online databases and manually reviewed to characterize and categorize the fatal events. Results: The study identified 113 wood chipper-related worker deaths (1982-2016). The victims were killed in struck-by (57), caught-in (41), motor vehicle (7), electrical (4), fall (2), and heat stroke (2) incidents while performing chipper-related tasks. Conclusions: Chipper-related worker deaths are preventable. Young and inexperienced workers may be at higher risk for caught-in deaths. The current feed wheel control devices are not effective for workers to self-rescue. Fully automatic feed wheel stop devices are needed to prevent caught-in incidents. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Emergencies Engineering Hazardous Substances Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mortality Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Wood

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• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accident Prevention Accident Rates Accident Statistics Author Keywords: Caught-in Case Reports Control Technology Control Valves Emergency Equipment Engineering Controls Entanglement Equipment Design Equipment Operation Fatal Injuries Fatalities Hazard Controls Injury Prevention Landscape Services Workers Machine Operators Machinery Machine Safety Machine Tools Risk Factors Struck-by Traumatic Injuries Tree Trimmers Wood-chippers

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  61
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053277
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2018 Dec; 61(12):978-985
• Contact Point Address:
  Julia Zhu, MS, Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention, New York State Department of Health, Corning Tower, Room 1336, Empire State Plaza, 12237 Albany, NY
• Email:
  julia.zhu@health.ny.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  New York State Department of Health/Health Research Incorporated
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b09227c8e9355a576a2a2aefc78030281b7f0bafaf58ebf0cf1c9b79cbc768d7802f192423a19c6182c64f74c8fee95c1e2ffd832d8c98d794907214e55e844c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216069/cdc_216069_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 526.86 KB ]