HAND-ARM VIBRATION IN DIFFERENT OPERATING CONDITIONS WITH A CHAINSAW

The mechanization of forest harvesting is a trend in Brazil. However, small and medium-sized companies in the forestry sector, even today, opt for semi-mechanized harvesting, using chainsaws for the harvesting and sectioning of trees. Despite technological advances, when operated continuously, chainsaws may cause damage to the operator’s body, acting as a stressor, and vibration excess is responsible for numerous health disorders, among them the Raynaud syndrome. In this sense, this study aimed to determine the vibration levels to which a chainsaw operator is subjected, during the transversal cut (tracing) of the wood, in different forest species and cutting sets. The treatments consisted of three forest species (Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus dunnii and Acacia mearnsii De Wild) and two cutting sets, consisting of square tooth chains of the semi-chisel and chisel types. The vibration assessment was based on the criteria established by the Regulatory Standards NR15, NHO10 and ISO 2631-4. The results of vibration levels were higher than the reference limits established by ISO 2631-4, and, for both cutting sets, the highest vibration levels occurred on the “x” axis. After the data processing, the acceleration values resulting from the normalized exposure to hand-arm vibrations showed significant differences for the “y” and “z” axes. Therefore, it can be inferred that the chainsaw operation is a stressor, potentially capable of causing damage to workers' health.

ANALYSIS OF THE SAFETY AND HEALTH STATUS AT THE WORK OF WORKERS OF THE FOREST INDUSTRY OF UKRAINE AND MEASURES FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT

Development of scientifically sound measures for the prevention of occupational injuries based on the analysis of data on occupational injuries, including fatal in the forestry sector of Ukraine, to identify the main causes of such injuries. Based on the analysis, it was established that the level of occupational injuries in the forest industry was in one of the first places among all sectors of the economy of Ukraine. A step-by-step decision-making process was used to develop an algorithm for making managerial decisions. It was found that the accidents occurred mainly due to violations of safety requirements by employees, lack of control by officials of forest enterprises over the organization of safe work and due to violations of the technological process. The study was based on actual statistics of the State Labor Service on occupational injuries in the forestry sector. It is stated that the situation around the enterprises of the forest industry cannot be radically corrected without the introduction of an effective labor protection management system with elements of assessment and management of industrial risks. The obtained theoretical conclusions, based on statistical data on occupational injuries, have been brought to the level of specific proposals suitable for practical use in the planning of preventive measures for labor protection in the field of forestry. The necessity of actualization and improvement of normative-legal acts in the field of forestry is substantiated. The adoption of the "Minimum requirements for the safety and health of workers in forestry and greenery" is justified, which will expand the scope, namely: legal relations will be regulated by the type of work, and not just apply to economic entities who carry out certain activities; it is proposed to introduce a "labor safety coordinator".

HUBUNGAN SIKAP, NORMA SUBYEKTIF DAN PERSEPSI KENDALI PERILAKU TERHADAP NIAT KTH DALAM BUDIDAYA TANAMAN ENERGI DI YOGYAKARTA

Energy policy in the world has changed due to the climate crisis. As a result, the need for renewable energy supply is increasing. Trees in the forestry sector are a reliable source of biomass for renewable energy production. Community forests could play an important role in supplying biomass-based renewable energy production. The study aims to understand the attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control on Farmers Forest Group's intention in cultivating trees for energy in Yogyakarta Province. The Theory of Planned Behaviour approach was used to analyse the correlation between Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioural Control on Forest Farmers Group Intention in cultivating trees for renewable energy. A survey using an online questionnaire was conducted on Forest Farmers Groups in four districts in DI Yogyakarta; Sleman, Kulonprogo, Bantul, and Gunungkidul. The survey results were analysed using non-parametric statistics.The results showed a significant positive correlation between Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioural Control on the Forest Farmers Group's Intention to cultivate trees for renewable energy. The study provides policymakers and privates with insight into working with the farmers when they are about to implement biomass-based renewable energy programs

Participation of Indigenous employees in the Quebec's forestry sector: opportunities and barriers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to better understand the factors influencing the attraction of Indigenous workers to the Quebec forestry sector.Design/methodology/approachUsing a collaborative approach, 64 semi-structured interviews were conducted between 2016 and 2018 with workers and stakeholders from three Indigenous communities in Quebec, Canada.FindingsThe results highlight the motivations for choosing a job in the forestry sector, including family and friends, attachment to the territory, financial necessity, the search for a challenge and a sense of pride. They also show some of the obstacles to holding a job in forestry, namely work–life conflict, transportation, job insecurity, education and personal problems.Social implicationsIndigenous people have a lower employment rate than non-Indigenous people, which can be explained by a number of factors that hinder their integration into the labour market. They nevertheless represent an interesting labour pool for companies working in the natural resources sector. This study sheds light on the opportunities and barriers to attract this workforce.Originality/valueThe study is one of the few to use theoretical frameworks focused on motivation and a qualitative approach to data collection in order to examine to examine the attraction of Indigenous workers to the forestry sector in Quebec (Canada) from a worker's perspective.

Materiality Assessment of Natural Capital Risks in Australian Forestry

Purpose of Review Natural capital is a term for the stocks of natural assets (e.g. natural resources and ecosystems) that yield flows of ecosystem services that benefit the economy and human well-being. Forestry is one of the industries with the greatest dependencies on natural capital, as well as having the potential for substantial positive or negative impacts on natural capital. These dependencies and impacts create direct risks to a forestry enterprise’s ongoing financial viability, which translate into indirect risks for investors and society. There are growing demands from a variety of stakeholders for more reliable information to assess such risks, but at present, these risks are not always well understood, assessed or communicated in a consistent and comparable way. This paper addresses this problem by applying a standardized methodology to develop the first systematic, evidence-based review and financial materiality assessment of natural capital risks for the Australian forestry sector. Recent Findings The vast potential scope of forestry impacts and dependencies on natural capital can be reduced to twenty key areas of relevance to Australian forestry, of which only seven to nine have been assessed as highly financially material for each of the sub-sectors of softwood plantations, hardwood plantations and native forestry. The majority of risks assessed as highly financially material are related to dependencies on natural capital. This is in part due to the fact that current regulations and certification schemes focus on managing impacts, but tend to overlook dependencies. Nearly all of the natural capital risks rated as highly material are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Summary An improved understanding of natural capital risks is an important input to better decision-making by forestry enterprises, as well as their lenders and investors, forestry regulators and other relevant stakeholders. This paper contributes to the preparedness of the forestry industry and its stakeholders to address questions about vulnerability to future changes and declining trends in natural capital.

Logging Industry in the United States: Employment and Profitability

This study analyzed logging industry employment and profitability in recent decades in the U.S. based on Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI), Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), and Timber Product Output (TPO) Reports. The logging industry in the U.S. has experienced reduced employment with an aging workforce over the past two decades. The changes might be related to increased productivity from mechanization, combined with reduced demand for logging, but estimates of capital and labor productivity for logging are not available. To overcome the data limitation, a simple and cost-effective economic model, Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) Model, was applied to estimate the profitability of the entire industry at a state level. It was found that the reduced demand and increased operating costs led to poor profitability and a wave of closures of logging firms but also accelerated the adjustment in the logging industry. Serious challenges facing the forestry sector include the lack of an effective monitoring tool for the logging industry, structural shortage of logging labor, and rising operating costs.

Climate-Smart Forestry in Brazil

Brazil is the second largest forested country in the world with a high level of naturalness and biodiversity richness, playing a significant role in the adoption of mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change. Although the Brazilian federal government is mainly responsible for the protection of natural ecosystems, the decentralization process, which demands competences of the states and municipalities, allowed the establishment of several agencies and institutions dealing with monitoring, assessment, and management of forest ecosystems through a complex and interrelated number of forest policies. Nevertheless, the deforestation rate, with a consequent loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, represents critical challenges, attracting worldwide attention. The variety of mitigation and adaptation measures adopted over the years represents viable tools to face climate change and to promote climate-smart forestry in Brazil. Notwithstanding the positive effects achieved in the last decade, a better coordination and practical implementation of climate-smart forestry strategies is required to reach nationally and internationally agreed objectives.This chapter aims to depict the Brazilian forestry sector, highlighting the management strategies adopted overtime to counteract climate change.

Review of Policy Instruments for Climate-Smart Mountain Forestry

Implementing the Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) concept into practice requires interaction among key stakeholders, especially forest owners and managers, policymakers (or regulators in general), forest consultants, and forest users. But what could be the most effective policy instruments to achieve climate smartness in mountain forests? Which ones would be the most acceptable for forest owners? And for the local forest communities? Should they be designed and implemented with the use of participatory approaches or rather on a top-down basis? This chapter summarizes key policy instruments structured in three subsequent categories: command-and-control, voluntary market-based instruments, and community cooperation. It provides examples of their functioning in the forestry sector and discusses their suitability for the implementation of climate smart forestry. It appears that there are many policy instruments used with varying degrees of success such as forest concessions or voluntary certification schemes. A wide range of instruments are responding to direct regulation; this has been seen as insufficient to deal with natural hazards and calamities.

ESPDS

In this paper, we introduce a Microsoft Excel Workbook containing the software Equipment Selection Problem DS (ESPDS) that recognizes the special structure of the equipment selection problem. The ESPDS approach is based on the context of the Brazilian forestry sector using detailed equipment maintenance schedules. No special restrictions are needed on cost inputs over time or technologies. The output is an equipment schedule that can be used to project equipment investment needs, operational costs, and tree harvesting costs. ESPDS can be applied to support companies and contractors in order to choose the best option for their operations, as well as to achieve better equipment purchase agreements. We will show how ESPDS will also be useful in providing longer term estimates of production costs. The sensitivity analysis shows how different inputs and maintenance polices can affect the best alternative. A numerical example is included considering the entrance of a specific technology that increases the equipment productivity in order to examine whether it can change the solution. ESPDS is intuitive, flexible, and easy to calculate. Although designed for the forestry industry, the approach is readily transferable to other sectors. ESPDS may be found on the web at the following URL: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350811380_ESPDS_workbook">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350811380_ESPDS_workbook</a>.