Work-related injuries in the Alaska logging industry, 1991-2014

Background

Although loggers in Alaska are at high risk for occupational injury, no comprehensive review of such injuries has been performed since the mid-1990s. We investigated work-related injuries in the Alaska logging industry during 1991-2014.

Methods

Using data from the Alaska Trauma Registry and the Alaska Occupational Injury Surveillance System, we described fatal and nonfatal injuries by factors including worker sex and age, timing and geographic location of injuries, and four injury characteristics. Annual injury rates and associated 5-year simple moving averages were calculated.

Results

We identified an increase in the 5-year simple moving averages of fatal injury rates beginning around 2005. While injury characteristics were largely consistent between the first 14 and most recent 10 years of the investigation, the size of logging companies declined significantly between these periods.

Conclusions

Factors associated with declines in the size of Alaska logging companies might have contributed to the observed increase in fatal injury rates.

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