Occupational health and safety of Latino immigrant cedar block cutters on the Olympic Peninsula: An exploratory pilot study

Latino immigrant workers are an increasing percentage of the manual forest laborers on both private and public lands in the Pacific Northwest. They perform labor-intensive seasonal jobs such as reforestation planting, tree thinning, salvage cedar block cutting, forest fire fighting and non-timber forest products harvesting. The health of the forest and economy of many rural towns depends heavily upon this population. These workers often act as private contractors and thus undertake dangerous jobs with no worker compensation protection or workplace review by the Department of Safety and Health. Although the cedar shingle and shake industry has a long history dating back to the late 1800's in the Pacific Northwest, there has been little documentation or regulation of the business. In addition, there has been virtually no documentation of occupational injuries and illnesses associated with cedar block cutting. Even less is known about the socioeconomic factors that contribute to immigrant forest workers' workplace conditions and decisions. The overall goal of this community-based participatory research project is to identify and prioritize the occupational health hazards faced by immigrant cedar block cutters, and to subsequently develop interventions to reduce such hazards. In addition, this project examines the larger social context in which block cutters operate, including the interplay of health, law, and labor. This will provide a glimpse into other forest occupations, as there are similarities in the workforce and work tasks. Data is being collected through key informant interviews and focus groups. A grounded theory framework will guide data analysis.