Review of Research on High-Priority Populations at Risk - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 71

search indicating the differences in logging-related fatality rates across the country;
the highest fatality rate was associated with manual harvesting of saw timber, for
which there was no logging safety standard.
Several logging-related activities have been conducted by NIOSH, includ-
ing support of OSHA's adoption of a national standard for the logging industry,
coordination of a statewide injury and helicopter-fatality intervention in Alaska,
targeting logging fatalities in Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE)
investigations, and evaluation of mechanical logging methods.
In 1989, OSHA proposed a new standard in logging, which was largely based
on standards developed in the 1976 NIOSH document titled “Criteria for a Recom-
mended Standard: Logging from Felling a First Haul.” From 1989 to 1990, NIOSH
continued to offer comments to OSHA, provided data from the National Traumatic
Occupational Fatality (NTOF) Surveillance System of the AFF Program, and made
several important recommendations related to safety equipment, snakebite protec-
tion, work organization and communications, and safe felling techniques. These
efforts culminated in the adoption of standards by OSHA in 1994, which included
many of the recommendations made by the AFF Program.
Helicopter logging emerged in the late 1980s as a form of transportation mainly
because of restrictions on road-building in Alaska's national forests. Investigations
conducted by NIOSH staff showed that improper operation and maintenance were
the main problems associated with the crashes. In 1993, a prevention matrix was
developed by the Alaska Interagency Working Group for the Prevention of Occu-
pational Injuries, which included representatives from the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard, the
USDA Forest Service, OSHA, the Alaska Department of Labor, the Alaska Depart-
ment of Social Services, and the AFF Program to identify risk factors for helicopter
crashes. The result was a reduction in helicopter crashes: only one helicopter crash
has occurred since 1993. Clearly the active involvement of other organizations in
cooperation with NIOSH provides an example of successful partnering resulting
in direct benefits for loggers in Alaska.
The programs in logging have focused on acute traumatic injuries and have
not addressed other hazard and illnesses that might be related to logging. There has
been a lack of work on the cultural and social issues that influence work-related
illnesses and injuries among loggers.
Fishing
In 1990, the AFF Program goal was to reduce the number and rate of commer-
cial fishing fatalities by 50 percent by 2005. In 1991-1992, data sharing agreements
with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Alaska state troopers were established and