Forestry Ergonomics and Occupational Safety in High Ranking Scientific Journals from 2005–2016

• Main Authors: Anton Poje, Igor Potočnik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry 2017-01-01
• Series: Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering
• Online Access: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/281507

The occupational safety and health change through time due to technological and social development. It is an obligation of scientific research to impartially and critically examine these changes and propose measures to reduce negative impacts on people. Since the forestry as an industry sector follows general changes, we tried to establish the situation in the field of occupational safety and health in forestry by reviewing the studies in the period 2005–2016. The review included studies, the results of which have been published particularly in scientific journals relating to the field of forestry and ergonomics with an impact factor. The findings show that the number of published articles in the field of occupational safety and health and ergonomics increases. Studies were mostly limited to only three continents, namely Europe and North and South America, and 26 countries in total. The majority of research was conducted in Canada, Brazil and Sweden. The largest number of research relates to traditional technologies of harvesting (chainsaw and skidder), whereas the Nordic states prevail in terms of modern, mechanized technologies. The study shows that international and intercontinental cooperation of researchers must be further stimulated in the field of research and education. It has been identified that there is a lack of studies addressing the issue of biomass production, forest road and skid trail construction, and some new technologies. There is a deficiency of cognitive studies, studies of workers’ burnout and comprehensive studies of ergonomics and productivity in the field of ergonomics. The uniform statistics of recording accidents will provide the research to be conducted in all forestry operations and enable the preparation of efficient preventive measures.