Recently, the number of forestry work accidents in Japan has increased slightly. At the same time, the decline in the forestry workforce has been slowing, and the aging index of forestry laborers has been stabilizing. There is thus concern that the higher accident rate could be caused by the increased number of new forestry workers. In this study, questionnaire surveys targeting approved forestry companies throughout the country were used to clarify the actual proportion of new workers, the number of work accidents, and the occupational health and safety practices of forestry companies. The results revealed that work accidents were more frequent in companies with new workers: the higher the proportion of new workers, the smaller the percentage of companies with 1-50 accidents per 1000 workers. Among the companies included in the complete accident rate statistics, a high percentage had no work accidents, but the highest percentage of companies had accident rates of 51-100 per 1000 workers. According to the test of independence between the proportion of new workers and occupational health and safety activities, the frequency distributions of positive and negative answers were divided into six patterns. The results indicated significant problems in the safety practices and work climate of entities with new-worker proportions of 1 to 50%. These entities must address these problems.

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The traction for removing hung-up trees by skidding at their butt end was measured in a steep Chamaecyparis obtusa stand. The average maximum traction for removing was 2.29kN (upward felling) and 4.08kN (downward felling). The removing traction in the case of upward felling was significantly smaller than that of downward felling (p<0.05). In comparison with the traction of hung-up trees being passed through the crowns of remaining trees in the preceding study, the traction of upward felling in this study was significantly smaler (p<0.05). However, in the case of downward felling, a significant difference of traction was not shown. The average work for removing was 1.56kJ (upward felling) and 6.70kJ (downward felling), the work of upward felling was significantly smaller (p<0.1). In comparison with the estimated work of hung-up trees being passed through the crowns of remaining trees in the preceding study, the advantage of the method of skidding at the butt end was not shown.

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