Bengt Frykman
BENGT FRYKMAN is a professor in the Department of Operational Efficiency, College of Forestry, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Garpenberg.
Despite improved working environments and the mechanization of a large number of physically demanding tasks, many forest workers today leave their jobs before they reach normal retirement age. A significant number are obliged to leave owing to disabilities of one kind or another. Others leave because of reduced physical capacity, brough about by advancing age, to earn an adequate wage.
Most forest workers have physically demanding tasks and significant numbers are also exposed to hazards such as noise, vibration and exhaust emissions. Back and neck injuries are a frequent cause of disability, especially among chain-saw operators and forest tractor-drivers. Such considerations make forestry an especially demanding profession for disabled persons.
"Full participation and equality" was the theme of the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons, 1981. In particular, this should be kept in mind by those responsible for personnel selection and management. We are all potentially disabled.
The UN campaign made these recommendations.
· Help disabled persons in their physical and psychological adjustment to society.· Promote national and international efforts to provide disabled per sons with assistance, training, care and guidance and create opportunities for suitable work to ensure their integration in society.
· Promote effective measures for the prevention of disabilities and for the rehabilitation of disabled persons.
Timely preventive measures can do much to reduce accidents, occupational diseases and the incidence of disability. They also reduce labour turnover and sickness, thereby lessening the costs to industry in both human and financial terms.
Check-list
The check-list in this article should help in analysing the problems of disabled workers and in finding different kinds of solutions. It could also be used in industries other than forestry.
Across the top of the chart are some of the general production aims, namely, employment, health, safety, job satisfaction and profitability. Other objectives may be added and the aims can also be broken down into sub-goals. "Meaningful employment for disabled people" would be an important sub-goal in this context. Apart from employment, measures which can improve ergonomic and safety aspects of the work are also important. In the author's experience, many improvements in ergonomics and safety also increase profitability and decrease drop-out and absenteeism. This list is by no means all-inclusive. Category by category, this is the way it should be understood.
Production direction
In many countries, there are periods when it is very difficult to carry out normal work operations, for instance, during rainy or winter seasons. The work will be especially hard for disabled persons under these conditions. Some kind of alternative employment during such periods is, therefore, desirable. In some cases, special workshops have been created by forestry employers to permit disabled persons to continue working during bad weather on projects such as construction of parts for wooden buildings, different kinds of carpentry products, or work in small sawmills. A cost/benefit analysis of such a workshop has been carried out in Sweden. It was shown that creating such sheltered employment within a company was profitable for both society and industry. (5) Another measure might be to establish workshops for the servicing of power chain-saws and other equipment within the forest management district instead of buying these services outside the company.
Technical systems design
Technical systems design includes the type of equipment envisaged for processing and handling, formation of material flow, grouping of machines, and design of building and work areas. There are many opportunities to adapt technical systems more effectively. For instance, machines can be rebuilt in such a way that a man with one leg or one arm can operate them. In some countries, such measures can be supported financially by the labour market authority.
It is important to study existing work methods in terms of safety and workload. The best opportunity for improvements is when new machines or methods are being introduced or when new buildings or work-places are being established. Ideally, ergonomic and safety considerations should be considered in the design and construction phases of a new machine. One method, for instance, which protects the back uses portable workbenches for motor-manual logging. Such a method could be introduced in forestry vocational schools or by instructors in "on the job" training. Portable work-benches have already been introduced in Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden. These work-benches make trimming easier because they provide a comfortable work position.
The use and design of one thing often depend on the design of another. For example, the possibilities for organizing work depend on how the technical system and the planning and control routines are shaped. The reward system cannot be formed without considering work organization and work roles. One should not design by adding one afterthought to another but rather by simultaneous design of various operations or parts.
Organization of work
Can job rotation or the use of relief personnel be useful? Is it necessary? Should production groups be formed with a certain degree of autonomy? Is shift work necessary? What shift schedules should be used? How can job satisfaction be encouraged, which leads to good morale and higher productivity?
We are responsible for others, not just for ourselves. This applies equally to individuals, labour unions, employers and governments.
Here are some examples of changes in work organization which will make a job easier, in both the short and the long run.
· Give the motor-manual work teams the easiest part of the forest to cut and put the highly mechanized teams in the difficult parts. Experience shows that this leads to high productivity, high work motivation and easier manual work.· Good team composition is important. The disabled person must feel that the other team members accept that he may have to work at a slower speed and that he may ask for assistance in difficult situations.
· Job rotation is recommended by physicians, especially in jobs where the work is repetitive. One way to solve this is to have a relief system where three men take turns operating two machines. The man not operating a machine carries out manual work. Even a different shift-work system can help. The so-called "overlapping shift system" is an example. Here, operator A starts at 06.00 and operates the machine until 09.00. Operator B comes to work at 09.00 and operates the machine until 12.00. Meanwhile, operator A is busy with "ground work" such as planning strip roads, maintenance, counting the number of logs produced or having lunch. At 12.00, operator A operates the machine again for another three hours of work, while B is carrying out ground work.
· Another organizational change is to have a disabled worker remain on the team while doing supportive tasks. By rearrangements of the foreman's job and slight changes in the job routines, it may be possible to create a meaningful job for a disabled person. Measuring of timber, colour marking, service-work and transport are examples.
· A more general change in the logging system, combined with organizational measures, can in many cases be the best way to solve the problem. Examples of modified logging systems can be found in Sweden with the socalled "partly mechanized systems". In one of these systems, the felling is done by a feller-skidder which brings the timber to a small landing where stems have been laid out as workbenches to facilitate limbing and crosscutting for the worker. This worker is often a disabled person who cannot carry out normal cutting work at felling sites.
· Teams consisting solely of disabled persons have been tried with both good and bad results. They have mainly done silvicultural work and the less demanding cutting work.
· In many cases a disabled person can do a good job in silvicultural work as a foreman for special teams such as young people and women, or teams paid by the government to avoid unemployment.
Supervision of work
The supervisor has a key role when it comes to handling delicate questions such as work impediments. He can discover, at a relatively early stage, if a forest worker is developing a work impediment and, hopefully, prevent it from becoming a problem. A forest worker in the early stages of developing problems, for example, can be advised to apply to a rehabilitation institute for exercises and work training. The supervisor is the one who knows best what tasks are available and can, through work distribution, help a person with a work-related injury, especially if it is temporary.
The importance of the supervisor's conduct, reflected in the pattern of "safe" or "risky" work behaviour of his men, has been established in a Swedish study. Cutters with "prohibiting" supervisors differ from cutters with "permissive" supervisors in a variety of work procedures pertaining to safety precautions. Those with "prohibiting" supervisors behave in a safer manner. The supervisor's role in safety precautions should, therefore, be strengthened. Management must provide the backing and support needed for displaying firmness in accident prevention.
Training and information
Training is a key element. Not only can training contribute directly to achieving goals; it is often essential before other measures can be carried out in practice. Above all, training is basically necessary to prevent accidents and injuries. In the field, the instructors must implement correct and safe work techniques. A physiotherapist as instructor can be very useful in showing workers how the back functions, for example.
One important task for people working in information and education is to change negative attitudes toward disabled persons. More than ever we need to accept the fact that man, in his work, may not always be in optimal condition. Physical and mental changes can occur due to ageing, injuries or accidents. Any one of us can be disabled tomorrow.
Wage systems
In most countries, piece rates are commonly applied in forestry, particularly during harvesting. It should be recognized that this system discriminates against the older or disabled worker vis-à-vis those with full working capacity and results in lower earnings and friction within teams where piece-rate earnings are shared. In the
Netherlands, workers in the State Forest Service get a monthly salary. Owing to this and to the relatively large variety of jobs, there is no problem about disabled workers being accepted by management and fellow workers. The work atmosphere does not suffer and the overall results are better.
In Sweden, since 1975, forestry has moved from piece work to time work. This change has, in at least two ways, influenced the work situation for disabled workers. First, the employer must pay approximately the same salary to a disabled worker with a lower working capacity as to a fully able worker. This requirement has increased the employer's interest in job adaptation and rehabilitation.
A second consequence of this wage reform is that it is easier today to experiment and change work methods and work organization to obtain better working conditions for the disabled. Prolonged wage negotiations do not interfere with changes in technical systems or work organization.
Work-place democracy
In certain countries, workers participate to some extent in company planning and organization, major participation taking place in the Netherlands, Sweden and Yugoslavia. Creation of preconditions for participation in job design and work organization can stimulate employees' ideas which will often be of practical use. In the Netherlands, for instance, workers take part in the selection procedure for new tools and individual safety equipment. In Sweden, the development of partly mechanized logging methods has evolved through worker participation. In Yugoslavia, workers participate in work committees responsible for allocation of profits. The experience has been that both management and workers are interested in improved work conditions.
It is evident from these examples that worker participation in planning, organization and control of work, if adequately coordinated, can be an important means of better job distribution and adaptation of working conditions according to the physical and mental capacity of the individual. This approach is humane, it encourages efficiency and it is politically sensible.
HOW TO IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS FOR DISABLED WORKERS
A work chart for the use of labour and management
|
|
Employment or disabled |
Health and safety |
Work satisfaction |
Profitability |
|
Production direction |
(x) |
n.a |
n.a. |
n.a. |
|
Technical systems design |
x |
x |
(x) |
(x) |
|
Organization of work |
x |
x |
(x) |
(x) |
|
Supervision of work |
(x) |
x |
x |
x |
|
Training and information |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Wage systems |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Work-place democracy |
n.a. |
(x) |
x |
(x) |
|
Personnel policy |
x |
x |
n.a. |
n.a. |
|
Labour market policy |
x |
x |
(x) |
(x) |
|
Social policy |
x |
(x) |
(x) |
n.a. |
|
Innovative regulations |
x |
x |
n.a. |
n.a. |
x= high degree of influence; (x) = certain degree of influence; n.a. = not applicable.
Personnel policy
In Sweden, there are special committees within companies that deal with vocational rehabilitation. One of their primary tasks is to stimulate company recruitment of disabled persons. In forestry, however, their main task so far has been to keep disabled workers employed within the company by means of rehabilitation and adaptation of work-places.
The Swedish Industrial Occupational Health Service works to achieve similar goals. Its possibilities for discovering early work injuries and assisting in rehabilitation and job adaptation are excellent, but they have not yet been fully utilized owing to inadequate resources.
The transfer of disabled persons to other posts within or outside a company may be, in some cases, good policy, for instance, where an adaptation of the workplace 'is not practicable or where rehabilitation measures are not enough. Generally speaking, trade unions of forest workers play an active role in promoting vocational rehabilitation of forest workers.
Labour market policy
In many countries, the labour market authority supports new recruitment or continued employment of disabled persons. In most countries, vocational evaluation, guidance and counselling, job training, job adaptation and selective placement are available. In Sweden, different personnel and financial services are offered, e.g., grants for work aids and special equipment, grants for work assistance, salary subsidies, labour market training and physical therapy. Similar services can be found in other countries.
Social policy
Forced retirement under economically disadvantageous conditions is, unfortunately, very common in forestry work for the disabled and the elderly. This should be a last resort, only taken when all other efforts to place a disabled person have been exhausted unless, of course, the worker wants to retire. In Sweden, a part" time pension system has been in effect since 1977, with good results, allowing workers to continue performing up to 75.5 percent of a given job after the age of 60. In France, a worker can retire at 60 while 65 is the mandatory retirement age. In some East European countries, logging workers are permitted earlier retirement.
Innovative regulations
By adopting new laws and regulations, governments can and should improve the situation for the disabled. In Sweden, there are special laws which promote the employment of older and disabled persons. In many countries, there are special laws covering the work environment and safety. Many countries accept the international ergonomic standards defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva. Funds earmarked for research in the budgets of governments or international organizations may be used to sponsor research and development within this area.
It is not always easy to implement the measures suggested in this article owing to various obstacles. Such obstacles include attitudes toward the disabled at work, attitudes among the disabled themselves, and technical and financial difficulties.. When an industry has to close down or when a new technology is introduced in a mill, it is the older or disabled persons who will suffer most and have the most difficulty in finding new jobs. Much more consideration must be given to the disabled in job design and in the introduction of new technology.
Disabled forest workers should not be forced, to the degree that they are now in so many countries, to take early retirement or to give up their jobs. Elderly and disabled persons can be enabled to keep on working to everyone's benefit. Workers and employers must cooperate actively to see that their less able colleagues are treated justly, with dignity and to the benefit of society. This is no more than affirming that we are responsible for others and not just for ourselves. This principle applies equally to individuals, labour unions, employers and governments.
1. AGER, B. 1978 How to consider human potential and demands in the design of man/machine systems in forestry. Joint Committee on Forestry Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers. Seminar on man/machine productivity, Garpenberg, Sweden.
2. BOSTRAND, L. 1979 Anpassning av skogsarbetet till människans förutsättningar. Del. 1. Delmekaniserad avverkning. Rapporter och Uppsatser nr. 128. Inst. för skogsteknik. Skogshögskolan, Garpenberg, Sweden. (English summary)
3. FRYKMAN, B. 1980 Supervision in forestry. IUFRO Seminar "Design of Work Systems in Forestry," 2126 September 1980, Garpenberg, Sweden.
4. FRYKMAN, B. 1981 et al. Report on vocational rehabilitation of forest workers. Joint Committee on Forestry Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers. Seminar on Occupational Safety and Health and Applied Ergonomics in Highly Mechanized Logging Operations. Ottawa, Canada, 15-21 September 1981.
5. FRYKMAN, B. & SWARTSTRÖM, J. 1979 Arbetsmöjligheter för personer med arbetshinder. Del. 111. Ekonomiska utvarderingar. Rapporter och Uppsatser nr. 133. Inst. för skogsteknik, Skogshögskolan, Garpenberg, Sweden. (English summary)
6. LINDSTRÖM, K.G. & SUNDSTRÖM-FRISK, C. 1976 Riskfyllt beteende i fällningsarbete. Förekomst och Styrfaktorer. Undersöknings-rapport AMP 101/76. Arbetarskyddsstyrelsen, Stockholm. Sweden.
