A Survey on Safety Among Tree-Climber Professional Arborists

An ergonomic study of arborist work activities

“…It is also evident that the work of an arborist is influenced not only by environmental factors but also by psychosocial stressors [ [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] ]. This result also confirms the earlier findings of Stramler [ 6 ] or Biocca et al [ 22 ], that the work of an arborist actually has not only a physical but also a cognitive component.…”

“…As arborists work in a high-risk environment, the combination of grip strength and resistance to psychological stress are also very important attributes in maintaining a safe workplace. Many authors confirm that arboriculture is demanding due to the workplace being outdoors and environmental effects [ 5 ], such as exposure to extreme temperature, noise or vibrations, but also psychosocial/cognitive aspects, including time schedule issues [ 2 , 18 ], individual characteristics [ 3 , 24 ] or levels of workers stress [ 4 , 22 ]. Another aspect is that people working in arboriculture are often engaged in heavy manual work which requires human energy [ 4 ] and basic tools which [ 33 ] although to some extent can be replaced by mechanized work, this still does require cognitive demand [ 1 ].…”

“…This result is consistent with Hypothesis 1 that, although arboriculture is primarily a physically demanding field, the proportion of physical work is decreasing (for example thanks to mechanisation) and space is being created for increasing activities of a cognitive nature. These include supervision, observation, control, decision-making processes in site safety management [ 15 , 16 , 20 , 28 ] or work under stressful conditions [ 22 ]. It is also evident that the work of an arborist is influenced not only by environmental factors but also by psychosocial stressors [ [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] ].…”

“…In general, arboricultural tasks include climbing trees, felling, cabling, pruning, removing trees, and other operations that require physical effort and muscular strength. Previous studies on these tasks include Biocca et al [ 22 ], who investigated the biomechanical overload risks related to rope-based access (tree climbing) work and recommended more in-depth studies on arborist safety when dealing with adverse or stressful conditions. Another study investigated the technical and economic features of maintenance operations involving most arboricultural tasks [ 23 ].…”