Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998 3

Logging is Perilous

ERIC F. SYGNATUR

Eric F. Sygnatur is an economist in the Office of

Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Bureau

of Labor Statistics. Guy Toscano, in the same

office, provided technical guidance.

Telephone: (202) 606-6175

E-mail: cfoistaff@bls.gov

Logging is Perilous

Work

Despite the risks involved in logging, timber is a multibillion dollar industry in the United States. Products and

structures made from trees are so prevalent that their

origin is scarcely noticed. Yet, in 1997, logging was the

most dangerous occupation in the country.

Logging was the second most

dangerous occupation (behind

fishing) during 1992-96, according to data from the Bureau of

Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). With over

128 deaths per 100,000 workers, logging surpassed fishing as the most

dangerous occupation in 1997.1 (See

charts 1 and 2.) Timber is a multibillion dollar industry in the United

States, and financial incentives have

maintained levels of employment to

meet consumer demand.

Products and structures made from

trees are so prevalent that their origin

is often scarcely noticed. Homes and

furniture, paper and pencils, some

cloth fibers, even many medicinal extracts are derived from wood. According to one report, “an average American uses wood and paper products

equivalent to what can be produced

from one 100-foot, 18-inch tree every

year.”2 Trees provide the convenience

of the Sunday paper just as readily as

they provided previous generations

with fuel in the winter. In fact, it takes

a cord of wood (a stack 8 feet by 4 feet

by 4 feet) to produce 250 copies of a

typical Sunday edition of The New York

Times.

3

Timber resources come at a price,

however: Each year, between 100 and

150 loggers lose their lives according

to the CFOI, and many more suffer

non-fatal injuries. Loggers face a risk

of fatal work injury approximately 27

times greater than the average for all

occupations. During 1992-97, loggers

suffered, on average, 128 fatalities per

100,000 workers compared to 5 per

100,000 for all occupations. (See table

1.) Over the 6-year period, 1 out of

every 780 loggers lost his life to a work

injury, which translates into 57 fatal

injuries per 1,000 workers over a 45-

year lifetime of timber cutting.4

Working conditions

Logging occupations are physically demanding, involving lifting, climbing,

and other strenuous activities in remote locations, frequently isolated
4 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Occupations with large numbers of fatalities are not always those with the highest risk.

Chart 1. Occupations with large numbers of worker fatalities and the leading event, 1997

Chart 2. The rate of fatal injuries per 100,000 workers in "high risk" occupations, 1997

Truckdrivers

(Highway crash, jackknifing)

Farm occupations

(Tractor-related)

Sales occupations

(Homicide)

Construction laborers

(Fall)

Laborers, except construction

(Caught in equipment)

Police and detectives, public

(Homicide)

Timber cutters

(Felled trees)

Groundskeepers, gardeners

(Vehichle-related)

Aircraft pilots

(Air crash)

Taxicab drivers

(Homicide)

NOTE: Rate = (Fatal work injuries/Employment) x 100,000 workers. Employment data extracted from the 1997

Current Population Survey.

SOURCE: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1998

Timber cutters

(n=121)

Fishers

(n=58)

Water transportation

(n=49)

Aircraft pilots

(n=100)

Extractive occupuations

(n=75)

Construction laborers

(n=333)

Taxicab drivers

(n=100)

Truckdrivers

(n=857)

Roofers

(n=55)

Farm occupations

(n=615)

857

615

458

333

208

156

121

103

100

100

128.7

123.4

94.2

83.3

51.7

41.1

40.3

27.9

27.5

27.5

National

average = 4.7

Total fatalities: n = 6,218
 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998 5

Logging is Perilous

from readily available medical services.5 In addition, because the work

is performed outdoors, loggers must

often face adverse weather conditions,

irregular terrain, and contend with

swarms of mosquitoes, black flies, and

deer flies. Long hours and 6-day workweeks are also common.6 None of

these conditions, however, is as menacing to the well-being of a logger as

the trees themselves; of the 772 fatal

injuries to loggers in 1992-97, 70 percent resulted directly from contact with

trees and logs. The magnitude of this

number is significant, as skidders 7 and

tractors, the next most common

sources of injury, together only accounted for 6 percent of total fatalities. The remaining 24 percent were

from a variety of sources (such as

dump trucks, the ground, and pickup

trucks), none of which individually

accounted for more than 2 percent of

the logging fatalities.

Trees pose a number of hazards to

loggers. Wind, structural irregularities in the tree, wet or sloped terrain,

and structural failures within the tree

such as heart rot, splits, breaks and

cracks may cause the tree to fall at unexpected times in unexpected directions. Felled trees can become entangled in other trees or, less obviously

and more commonly, broken tree limbs

can be caught in nearby trees where

they dangle capriciously, often falling

onto unsuspecting loggers. The latter

scenario is so common that hanging

limbs are often referred to as “widow

makers.” Falling trees can also hit

overhead power lines and telephone

poles, or vines and other dense vegetation, resulting in erratic falls, fires,

or entanglement. “Fish-tailing” trees

sweep a large surface area as they

swing sideways, and “mousetraps”

sometimes occur when a felled tree

strikes another, perhaps concealed log,

TABLE 1. Number and rate1 of fatal occupational injuries to loggers by year,

1992-97

Year

Logging occupations2

Total

Supervisors, 

forestry 

and logging

Timber 

cutting 

and logging

Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate

1992-1997 ............. 772 128.3 76 81.7 696 136.8

1992 ...................... 146 162.2 13 108.3 133 170.5

1993 ...................... 135 121.8 11 64.7 124 133.3

1994 ...................... 131 123.6 19 95.0 112 130.2

1995 ...................... 110 100.0 12 92.3 98 101.0

1996 ...................... 129 139.2 10 62.5 119 157.3

1997 ...................... 121 128.7 11 73.3 110 140.7

1 The rate represents the number of

fatal occupational injuries per 100,000

employed workers and was calculated as

follows: (N/W) x 100,000, where 

 

N = the number of fatal work injuries to

workers 16 years of age and older. 

 

W = the number of employed workers

16 years of age and older. 

100,000 = number of workers. 

 

Employment figures are annual average

estimates of employed civilians 16 years of

age and older from the Current Population

Survey (CPS), 1992-97. 

See "Explanatory Notes and Estimates

of Error" in the January 1998 Employment

and Earnings for an explanation of CPS

sampling and estimation methodology, and

standard error computations. The relative

standard error of the CPS employment

estimates can be used to approximate

confidence ranges for the fatality rates. 2 Based on the 1990 Occupational

Classification System developed by the

Bureau of the Census.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation

with State and Federal agencies, Census

of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1992-97

which in turn strikes the logger. Even

when the tree is settled it poses dangers when limbs become locked or

bent. Loggers who cut these limbs

must guard against slingshot effects,

which can throw large limbs up to 50

feet.8

Some 65 percent of logging fatalities occurred as a result of being struck

by falling objects, almost all of which

were trees and logs. Various types of

non-roadway vehicular accidents, including those caused by tractors and

skidders, accounted for 7 percent of

fatalities; loggers crushed or struck by

rolling logs accounted for 5 percent;

and falls from trees, 2 percent. In 95

percent of the cases where the time of

the incident was reported, they occurred between the hours of 7 a.m.

and 5 p.m.9

Economic and demographic

characteristics

Many regions of the United States

boast a rich sylvan heritage—the huge

douglas firs and redwoods of the Pacific Northwest, the hearty maples of

the upper Midwest, the white pine of

the Northeast, and the southern pines

(long leaf, short leaf, slash, and

loblolly) of the South are some of the

most well-known. Logging of these

trees is a multi-billion dollar industry

practiced in all States. Some regions

(those characterized by the types of

trees they harvest, the levels of mechanization used, and other economic factors) have natural advantages over others.

Weather and climate, and the percent of logging employment are important factors to consider when comparing regional fatality numbers. (See

charts 3 and 4.)

The Southern region, as defined by

Census,10 had 413 logging fatalities,

about 54 percent of the total between

1992-97. In this region, North Carolina, with 55 deaths, had the most fatalities of any State; this represents 7.1

percent of all logging fatalities, although North Carolina only accounts

for 2.9 percent of all loggers. (See

table 2.) Logging is a flourishing industry in the South “ ... [where] tim-
6 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998

Fatal occupational injuries occurring in logging and timber cutting occupations

by region and employment share.

Chart 3. Logging fatalities and percentages by region, 1992-97

Chart 4. Logging employment percentages by region, 1992-97

24.1%

53.6%

10.8%

11.5%

24.1%

53.6%

10.8%

11.5%

Southern Region

43.7%

Western Region

26.1%

Midwestern Region

15.6%

Northeastern Region

14.6%

Southern Region

n = 413

53.6%

Western Region

n = 186

24.1%

Midwestern Region

n = 89

11.5%

Northeastern Region

n = 83

10.8%

NOTE: Data includes supervisors. Regions are based on the Bureau of Census' regional designations. See technical note for

additional information.

SOURCE: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1998

Total fatalities: n = 772
 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998 7

Logging is Perilous

ber harvesting costs ... are among the

lowest in the world, and perhaps the

lowest.”11 New mechanization procedures in the South for wholetree

(longwood) harvesting have decreased

average costs and increased efficiency,

shifting the production output dramatically over the 1979-87 period. The

number of less efficient pulpwood

(shortwood) firms decreased by half

over the 8-year period and average

pulpwood harvesting costs declined

significantly in real terms.12

The rich soils, ample rain, and mild

climate of the West Coast make it an

ideal location to practice silviculture

(the care and tending of forest vegetation).13 In 1991, California’s timber

harvest value exceeded $900 million,

and California, Oregon, and Washington combined produce nearly 14 million board feet of lumber per year.14

These 3 States accounted for 97 deaths,

or 13 percent of the total, for the 1992-

97 period. The Western region had

186 deaths, or 24 percent of all logging fatalities from 1992-97.

The remaining 2 regions, the

Northeast and Midwest, accounted for

83 and 89 deaths, or 11 and 12 percent, respectively. In these two regions, only Pennsylvania ranked

among the top 15 States in fatalities

with 33, or 4.3 percent of the total.

Fifteen States experienced 70 percent

of all logging fatalities, and the top 5

States, 30 percent. (See table 2.)

During the 1992-97 period, less

than 1 percent of the logging fatalities involved women, who comprised

about 3 percent of the logging industry workforce. Blacks made up between 7 and 12 percent of the

workforce, but were slightly over-represented in fatalities, with between 11

and 17 percent. Whites, who made

up 83 percent of the workforce, also

constituted 83 percent of the fatalities.

The remaining races, who comprise

only a small fraction of those employed, incurred very few fatalities.

About one-third of logging workers are self-employed, a much higher

proportion than in most occupations.15

These workers incurred about onethird of the logging fatalities between

1992-97.16 Employees working for

compensation or pay constitute the

overwhelming majority of remaining

fatalities, with very few fatalities

among those working in family businesses or volunteering their efforts. In

the competitive logging industry, the

median weekly earnings for full-time

wage and salary earners in the forestry

and logging occupations was $443,

compared to $490 for all occupations.17

TABLE 2. States with the largest number of logging fatalities, 1992-97

 All States ........................................... 772 100 100

North Carolina ......................................... 55 7.1 2.9

Mississippi ............................................... 51 6.6 3.3

Kentucky ................................................. 45 5.8 3.7

Virginia .................................................... 42 5.4 2.8

Washington ............................................. 41 5.3 9.7

Alabama .................................................. 37 4.8 6.0

Pennsylvania ........................................... 33 4.3 3.3

Oregon .................................................... 32 4.2 7.0

West Virginia ........................................... 31 4.0 2.0

Montana .................................................. 29 3.8 2.0

Texas ....................................................... 29 3.8 4.5

Tennessee ............................................... 27 3.5 5.3

Georgia ................................................... 25 3.2 5.0

California ................................................. 24 3.1 2.4

South Carolina ......................................... 23 3.0 1.3

1

 Includes supervisors.

2

 See Technical note.

3

 Not all States had logging fatalities between 1992-97.

Percent of

logging

workforce2

Fatalities1

Number Percent

State

3

Data for non-fatal injuries

Logging injuries that do not result in

a fatality but require time away from

work to recuperate most often occur

to the trunk of the body and the lower

extremities. In 1996, the most recent

year for which data are available, there

were an estimated 2,136 cases involving time away from work. However,

this statistic does not account for the

self-employed, government workers,

or workers in agricultural establishments with fewer than 11 employees.18

As the following tabulation shows, the

injuries most often reported in 1996

for timber cutters, including supervisors, were sprains and strains, followed by fractures and bruises.

Total, 1996 .............. 2,136 100

 Sprains, strains .... 713 33

 Fractures ............. 359 17

 Bruises ................ 305 14

 Cuts, punctures ... 209 10

 Bodily pain ........... 87 4

 All other ............... 463 22

About half of the non-fatal injuries

in 1996 were caused by events such as

being struck or crushed, followed by

falls, which accounted for about onequarter.

Between 1992-96, over 30 percent

of the logging injury cases resulted in

31 or more lost workdays and almost

17 percent resulted in 3-5 days away

from work. The median number of

days away from work for the 5-year

period was 11. As the following tabulation shows, an important trend seems

to have developed, as the number of

non-fatal injury cases involving lost

workdays has steadily dropped from

over 4,500 in 1992 to 2,136 in 1996.

 Year

1992 .............................. 4,537

1993 .............................. 4,522

1994 .............................. 3,479

1995 .............................. 2,779

1996 .............................. 2,136

Conclusion

Loggers comprise one-half of 1 perNumber

of

cases

Percent

of total

cases

Nature of injury

19

Number of

injuries
8 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998

cent of the total workforce in America,

yet they account for nearly 2 percent

of all fatalities. This astounding ratio

is an indication of the unpredictable

dangers involved in logging.

Employment levels and the demand

for wood have been relatively stable

over the past 6 years, and any future

increases in the demand for wood

products is expected to be offset by improvements in technology rather than

increases in employment.20 Recent

history reveals a disturbing pattern of

regularity to logging fatalities that does

not appear to be changing. Perhaps

developments in logging techniques,

training, and equipment will provide

a boost in safety. Significant decreases

in the number of non-fatal injuries requiring time away from work is encouraging, certainly, but logging still

has the highest fatality rate among all

occupations.

Technical note

The lifetime risk for a specific industry or occupation was calculated using an equation proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration in 1995:

WLTR = [1 – (1 – R)y] x 1,000

where: WLTR = working lifetime

risk.

R = probability of a worker having

a work-related fatal injury in a given

year.

1 – R = probability of a worker not

having a work-related fatal injury in a

given year.

y = years of exposure to work-related injury.

(1-R)y

 = probability of surviving y

years without a work-related fatal injury

1 – (1 – R)y = probability of having

a work-related fatal injury over y years

of employment.

For this article, y was set at 45

years. This assumes workers are exposed to work-related injury hazards

for approximately 45 years, starting at

age 20.

The number of fatal occupational

injuries per 1,000 workers is derived

as follows:

R = 0.00128 = 128 fatalities per

100,000 workers which is equal to a

.128-percent probability of a worker

having a work-related fatal injury in a

given year.

1 – R = 1 – 0.00128 = 0.99872

which is equal to a 99.87-percent probability of a worker not having a fatal

occupational injury in a given year.

(1 – R)4 5 = 0.99874 5 = 0.9431

which is equal to a 94.31-percent probability of surviving 45 years without

having a work-related fatal injury.

1 – (1 – R)4 5 = 1 – 0.9431 = 0.0569

which is equal to a 5.69-percent probability of having a work-related fatal

injury over 45 years of employment.

Although it is tempting to view the

inverse of 0.0569 (1:18) as the probability a worker faces of suffering a

fatal occupational injury over a theoretical 45-year logging career, risk

should be expressed on a per 1,000

worker basis to account for such factors as turnover, as follows:

[1 – (1 – R)4 5] x 1,000 = 0.0569 x

1,000 which is equal to 57 fatalities

per 1,000 workers over a 45-year period comprising a working lifetime.

State and region-specific employment estimates were obtained using

the Current Population Survey’s Federal Electronic Research and Review

Extraction Tool (FERRET) for the years

1994-97, corresponding with the earliest year for which FERRET micro data

is available, and the latest year for

which CFOI numbers are available.

Given the stable employment numbers

and markets for loggers between 1992-

97, this average estimate for 67 percent of the period should prove reliable for employment composition by

State over the whole 1992-97 period.

Additional information on FERRET can

be obtained from the Bureau of Labor

Statistics Internet site at http://

ferret.bls.census.gov/cgi-bin/ferret.

See “Explanatory Notes and Estimates

of Error” in the January, 1998 Employment and Earnings for an explanation

of CPS sampling and estimation methodology, and standard error computations. The relative standard error of

the CPS employment estimates can be

used to approximate confidence ranges

for the fatality rates.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1998 9

Logging is Perilous

1

 The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

has collected occupational fatality data since 1992,

using diverse data sources to identify, verify, and

profile fatal work injuries. Information about each

workplace fatality (occupation and other worker

characteristics, equipment being used, and circumstances of the event) is obtained by cross-referencing source documents, such as death certificates, workers’ compensation records, and reports

to Federal and State agencies. This method assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible.2

 Washington Contract Loggers Association,

Washington State Timber Facts, Figures and Issues for Concerned Citizens, on the Internet at

http://www.loggers.com/timbfact.html (visited

Aug. 12, 1998). 3

 Ibid.

4

 For an explanation of the methodology used

to derive this statistic, see David E. Fosbroke,

Suzanne M. Kisner, and John R. Myers, “Working Lifetime Risk of Occupational Fatal Injury,”

American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Vol.

31, Wiley-Liss, Inc., 1997, pp. 460-61. Also see

technical note at the end of this article. 5

 Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1998-

99 Edition, Bulletin 2500, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1998, p. 420. 6

 John Gagnon, Hard Maple, Hard Work,

(Marquette, MI: Northern Michigan University

Press), 1996, pp. 63-65.

7

 Skidders are tractor-like vehicles used to

drag logs through forest terrain. 8

 Gerald F. Beranek, The Fundamentals of

General Tree Work, (Fort Bragg, NC: Beranek

Publications, 1996), pp. 362-383. 9

 Ninety-four percent of the cases reported the

time of incident. 10 Bureau of the Census regional designations:

Northeast: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA,

RI, and VT.

Midwest: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE,

ND, OH, SD, and WI.

South: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA,

MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV.

West: AZ, AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM,

OR, UT, WA, and WY. 11 Douglas R. Carter, et. al., Southern Pulpwood Harvesting Productivity and Cost Changes

Between 1979 and 1987, Research Paper NC318, U.S. Department of Agriculture, North Central Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN,

1994, pp. 31-32. 12 Ibid.

13 Earl Roberge, Timber Country, (Caldwell,

ID: Caxton Printers, 1973), p. 1. 14 Little Hoover Commission, Timber Harvest

Plans: A Flawed Effort to Balance Economic and

Environmental Needs, Sacramento, CA, 1994, pp.

10-12. 15 Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1998-

99 Edition, p. 420.

16 Two-thirds of the fatality records in the

1992-97 period indicated the size of the establishment that employed the decedent. Eighty-two percent of those indicating employment size employed

between 1 and 10 workers. 17 Employment and Earnings, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January, 1997, table 39, pp. 206-

210.18 The Survey of Occupational Injuries and

Illnesses (SOII) collects information from a random sample of about 200,000 establishments representing most of private industry, with the exception of the self-employed. Worker characteristics

are collected only for those workers sustaining

injuries and illnesses that require days away from

work (with or without restricted work activity) to

recuperate.

Because the scope and methodology of CFOI

and SOII are slightly different, comparison of the

fatal and nonfatal data is problematic.

Additional information on either CFOI or

SOII can be obtained from the Bureau of Labor

Statistics Internet site at http://stats.bls.gov/

oshhome.htm or via email at cfoistaff@bls.gov. 19 Includes non-classifiable responses and response numbers too small to publish according to

the confidentiality standards established by the

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Safety, Health

and Working Conditions. 20 Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1998-

99 Edition, p. 421.

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to:

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Compensation and Working Conditions

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2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Washington, DC 20212-0001