Alarmed at the high injury rate in the tree-care business, the state Department of Labor & Industries has launched a round of safety workshops for tree-care professionals across the state, including one next month in Vancouver.
The local “Tree Care and Pruning Industry Conference” is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 10 at the Vancouver L&I office, 312 S.E. Stonemill Drive, Suite 120. The half-day event for tree-care professionals will cover the most common causes of injuries and how to avoid them, ways to get free help with accident prevention and safety, reimbursement for the costs of light-duty work for injured workers, and other topics.
The state agency launched the workshop after its actuaries noticed that the claim costs in the tree-care industry were much higher than those of other workers in the broad employment category of excavation and land clearing, said Roseann Collins, employer services outreach supervisor with the L&I Workers’ Compensation Program. The department conducted a study which found that claims were more than twice as high as the category as a whole.
The state received reports of nearly 250 worker injuries in 2013, in an industry with just 500 businesses, she said. The most common injuries are the result of workers being struck by tree parts or falling from trees, the state found.
