A Research on Work Satisfaction of Forest Workers

Forestry works have an important work branch in the Eastern Black Sea Region because of the wealth of forested areas, the multiplicity of forest villages, the intense forestry activities and the lack of different income sources of forest villagers. Therefore, forestry activities are one of the main industries for forest villagers to prevent unemployment and to reduce income imbalance between different regions. Forestry activities differ from other sectors because of work difficulty, hard working conditions, limited time, temporary work, low revenue and legal dimension of work. Harvesting works should be done by forest villagers in accordance with article 40 of Forest Law. The analysis of the socio-economic structure of a community is important both in giving photographs of the current period and in presenting the transformations of working class dynamics over time. In this study, the relationship between the demographic features of forest workers and work satisfaction was examined. Within the scope of the study, a questionnaire including questions about personal characteristics, family structures, economic incomes and work satisfaction was applied to the workers. As a result, it was determined that 35.83% of all workers were between 31 and 40 ages and primary school (35%). In addition, forest workers had no income sources except for forest (77.5%), and most of the workers were the livelihoods of their families (81.4%) and working for 6-8 hours. Most of them are satisfied with forest workers (65.83%), and the main reasons for not being satisfied were determined as low income, lack of social security and difficult working conditions (18.33%).

___

  • Acar, H.H., 1998. Forestry Work Techniques and Work Safety Lecture Note, Faculty of Forestry Publications, Number: 55, KTU, Trabzon. 161 p.
  • Acar H.H., Ünver Okan S., 2008. A Research on Occupational Health in Forestry: The Case of Trabzon, 14th National Ergonomics Congress, 30 October - 1 November, pp.414-420. Trabzon, Turkey.
  • Bentley, T.A., Parker, R.J., Ashby, L., 2005. Understanding felling safety in the New Zealand forest industry. Applied Ergonomics, 36(2):165–175.
  • Enez, K., 2008. Assessment of Anthropometric Data and Working Posture as Accident Risk Factors in Forest Harvesting Workmanship, Ph.D. Thesis, KTU Institute of Natural Sciences, Department of Forest Engineering, Trabzon. 170 p.
  • Enez, K., Engur, M. O., Acar, H.H., 2008. An Evaluation by Using Ergonomic Checklist on the Situations of Harvesting Workers in the Forestry, 14th National Ergonomics Congress, p. 364-372, Trabzon, Turkey.
  • Enez, K., Topbas, M., Acar, H.H., 2014. An evaluation of the occupational accidents among logging workers within the boundaries of Trabzon Forestry Directorate, Turkey, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 44(2014):621-628 doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2014.07.002.
  • Gallis, C., 2006. Work-related prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among Greek forest workers. Int. J. Indust. Ergon. 36:731-736.
  • Gandaseca, S., Acar, H., Yoshimura, T., 2001. Occupational safety and health of forestry workers of cable harvesting in Turkey. In: New Trends in Wood Harvesting with Cable Systems for Sustainable Forest Managements in the Mountains, 18e24 June, Ossiach, Austria, pp. 289-299.
  • Gumus S., Türk Y., 2011. Investigation to Determine Data of Safety and Health Conditions of Forest Fire Workers, Düzce University Journal of Forest, 7:1-9.
  • Gumus S., Türk Y., 2012. Investigation to Determine Data of Some Safety and Health Conditions of Forest Logging Workers, Kastamonu University Journal of Forestry Faculty, 12(1):20-27.
  • ILO, 1998. Safety and Health in Forestry Work. ILO Publications, p. 22. CH-1211.
  • Lindroos O., Burström L., 2010. Accident rates and types among self-employed private forest owners, Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42(6):1729-1735.
  • Mitchell, T.R., Holtom, B.C., Lee, T.W., Sablynski, C.J., Erez, M., 2001. Why People Stay: Using Job Embeddedness to Predict Voluntary Turnover, Academy of Management Journal, 44(6):1102-1121.
  • Orkoop. 2018., Forest and Forestry in Turkey. (Accesed: 1 June 2018). http://www.orkoop.org.tr/bilgi4.html.
  • Ostberg, O., 1980. Risk perception and work behaviour in forestry: implications for accident prevention policy. Accident Anal. Prevent. 12 (1):189-200.
  • Potočnik, H., Skrbinšek, T., Kos, I., 2009. The reintroduced Dinaric lynx population in PVA simulation: the 30 years retrospection and the future viability. Acta Biol. Slov., 52(1):3-18.
  • Studstrom-Frisk, C., 1984. Behavioural control through piece-rate wages. J. Occup. Accid. 6 (1-3):49-59.
  • Senturk, N., Acar, H.H., 1997. Status of Forest Workers in Eastern Black Sea Region, Journal of the Faculty of Forestry Istanbul University, B47(1-2-3-49):39-47.
  • Turkish Official Gazette, 2012. Workplace Hazard Classes Communiqué on Occupational Health and Safety, Official Gazette Date: 26.12.2012, Official Gazette Number: 28509.
  • Unver Okan S., Acar H.H., Kaya A., 2013. Investigation of Wood Production Activities according to Ergonomic Risk Assessment Methods, 19th Ergonomics Congress, Balıkesir, Turkey, 27-29 September, pp. 52-63.
  • Unver, S., 2012. A New Women's Step Forestry Sector: Problems of Female Forest Guards Offıcers. 18th Ergonomics Congress. 16-18 November, 570-576, Gaziantep.