Top 10 Health and Safety Risks in Sawmills

These are the top 10 health and safety risks in sawmills as identified by workers, supervisors and employers:

1. Substance use: Under the influence of drugs and alcohol in the workplace

2. Workers taking shortcuts: Gaps in training, coaching, supervision

3. Not properly locking out or guarding equipment

4. Age: Inexperience of new, young workers who don’t see the dangers

5. Psychosocial: Lack of focus, distraction of worker while performing duties 

6. Slips, trips, and falls

7. Occupational disease: Loss of hearing, ringing in the ears

8. Psychosocial: Stress, including job and family pressures

9. Working from heights: Absence of engineered anchor points

10. Caught in or crushed by mobile equipment