Survey says...The safest tree care companies are accredited with CTSPs on staff
The results are in and the data couldn't be clearer. For
workers, commercial tree care firms are safer than
landscape companies that do tree work and safer than
municipal tree crews. Among commercial tree care firms, it is
safer to work for a TCIA member than a non-member. Among
TCIA members, the safest companies in the entire industry
were accredited and / or enrolled in the Certified Treecare
Safety Professional program.
With more than 15 million hours of data to work from, the
results are unmistakable: TCIA member companies involved
in the association's credentialing and certification programs
have lower rates of recordable accidents and a lower number
of lost workday accidents.
And the differences are staggering: Accredited companies
and accredited companies involved with the CTSP program
are more than 10 times less likely to experience a lost
workday incident than their non-accredited counterparts.
Safety is an investment that pays off – for the employee and
the company!
Summary
Analysis of the data from TCIA's Accident Survey for 2006
and 2007 shows strong correlations between companies that
are safer and those that enjoy TCIA membership and
participate in Accreditation and CTSP. And the number of
incidents dropped between 2006 and 2007.
Our Methodology
The data was compiled from three survey sources: a
"belly-wrap" survey with TCI magazine, with completed
surveys either mailed or faxed back; a fax-in survey from
TCIA members; and a "Zoomerang" electronic survey, also
to members.
TCIA's accident survey focused on tree care operations
among TCI magazine readers and TCIA members. More
than 15.5 million hours worked reported by over 1,000
organizations were analyzed in the most recent year of this
survey. Two widely used "lagging indicator" accident
statistics were measured:
1. Incident Rate (IR, or Recordable Case Rate) is the
number of recordable accidents per 100 workers in a year.
A recordable accident is defined as one that requires
medical attention beyond treatment in the field.
2. Lost Workday Illness & Injury Rate (LWDII) is the
number of lost workday accidents per 100 workers in a year.
A lost-time accident is defined as one that causes the
injured worker to miss time from his/her ordinary duties
beyond the initial date of injury.

Risk Comparison: Tree Care Companies vs. Others
Tree care firms experience fewer recordable accidents
than landscape firms or municipal crews engaged in tree
care. Furthermore, tree companies appear to have made
the greatest gains in worker safety as evidenced by 2007
lost workday illness/injury rates. It appears that there is a
relationship between being a TCIA member and being
safer. TCIA members achieved the greatest reduction in
recordable and lost-time accidents of any group measured.

Comparison of Accredited and CTSP Companies
Among TCIA members reporting, significant differences
were found between those companies that were accredited
(on or before June 1, 2007 for reporting purposes), those
that had employees enrolled in the Certified Treecare
Safety Professional (CTSP) program and those that were
not involved in either program.
Here are some comparisons:
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Member companies tend to be much larger and work
their crews more than non-members. Implementing safety
measures and assuring safe behaviors on the job is much
more challenging in a larger organization, and conventional
wisdom is that increased hours lead to accidents. Nevertheless,
members experienced a 28 percent reduction in
recordable accidents from 2006 to 2007, whereas nonmembers
saw an increase in accident frequency of almost
11 percent. Lost workday illness and injury rates for the two
groups were comparable.
-
Accredited companies as well as accredited companies
involved with CTSP are over 10 times less likely to
experience a lost workday incident than their nonaccredited
counterparts (Table 3). Companies involved in
both Accreditation and CTSP have the lowest lost workday
incidence rate of all, suggesting that they have greater
proficiency not only in preventing the severest of accidents,
but also in managing accident cases after the fact.
Conclusion
The data is clear: becoming accredited and involving
employees in the CTSP program pays off in fewer
accidents, injuries and lost work days.

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