Ranking Health And Safety Factors For Forest Workers: An Analytical Hierarchy Process Approach In Geographic Area Of Northern Of Iran

Abstract

Forestry workers often work in mountainous areas, hard, difficult to pass and in the conditions of climate change, and most of their work is heavy and dangerous. The death rate in the wood exploitation industry in the United States is 19 times that of other industries, which shows that indicates that the workers in the exploitation and cutting of trees are more at risk. In the studies conducted in Iran, the rate of accidents in the forest was 11 times that of other industries.The purpose of this study was to prioritize the factors affecting the health and safety of forest workers in Guilan province. Topographic factors, having safety equipment, having sufficient education and knowledge, physical characteristics of trees and type and weight of work performed. In order to evaluate the criteria, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique was used. A total of 50 questionnaires related to the research topic were completed and reviewed by relevant[1] professors and experts. The results showed that the overall priority of the criteria of topographic factors, having safety equipment, having sufficient education and knowledge, physical characteristics of trees and type and weight of work performed were equal to 0.072, 0.522, 0.232, 0.037 and 0.137 were obtained, respectively. The results of the sub-criteria also showed that having safety equipment, especially earphones, glasses and helmets, is more important than the other sub-criteria examined. The results of the inconsistency rate showed that the pairwise comparisons of the criteria and sub-criteria have an acceptable consistency (less than 0.1). Safety equipment such as headphones, glasses and hats are very important because in work and industrial environments, the probability of accidents and accidents is very high. The results of the present study show that 47% of forest workers are illiterate in the study of their educational status, which requires a training course to work with tools and cutting machines for the workers.