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In 2006 all manual tree fallers in British Columbia (BC), Canada were required to obtain a safe work practices certificate either through extensive field training and examination for new workers or examination alone for experienced workers. This study examined if the risk of work injury for manual tree fallers working in BC changed after obtaining this certification.
Methods
A cohort of 3251 manual tree fallers was identified from a mandatory faller registration database and linked to workers compensation injury records for the period of 2002 to 2009. Injuries were defined as all accepted workers’ compensation claims and categorized as acute, strain and serious injuries. All workers in the study were certified during the study period. Individual risk of injury was assessed by quarter s in the year before and after certification using discrete-time survival analysis adjusting for demographic, economic and faller-specific confounders.
Results
The risk of injury throughout the study period was 5 injuries per 100 person years with the average injury rate lower in the year prior to certification (4/100 PY) than after certification (6/100 PY). In the fully adjusted survival models the risk of injury was lowest in the quarter immediately preceding (IRR: 0.7 95%CI: 0.4-1.2) certification and highest in the third quarter after certification (IRR: 1.8 95%CI: 1.1-2.9). Results were consistent across all injury types.
Discussion
Obtaining a safe practices work certificate was not associated with a reduction in the injury risk for manual tree fallers. Consistent with other intervention research on safety regulation, the increase in risk following certification may due to increased injury reporting. Moreover, almost all workers in the cohort were experienced fallers who obtained their certification through examination only, limiting the ability of the study to evaluate the effect of the full training requirements for certification on injury reduction.