For over a decade the BC SAFE Silviculture Program has worked with progressive contractors and licensees on innovative ways to reduce MSIs among forestry workers. Overall claim rates have declined steadily in tree planting operations. Nevertheless MSI injuries continue to persist on a provincial scale. Notwithstanding that statistic there is strong evidence that individual companies are having success in significantly reducing injuries through a variety of innovative worker health strategies. These promising practices are the focus of the ongoing Participatory Action Research (PAR) process. PAR’s approach is to establish workplace improvement teams (WIT) to identify successful front line strategies and then share and expand these to other operators. In order to measure the effect of these tactics a WIT is now working to set a standard way of classifying and measuring reportable incidents to share with willing operators and licensees.
MSI Promising Practices (DOCX)