Northwest Forest Worker Center

What it reported doing in 2019

Training Forest Workers in Occupational Safety and HealthIn 2019 we developed a guide for training workers in the forestry services industry in preventing musculoskeletal disorders. We developed Spanish and English versions of the guide. The guide is designed for low-literacy audiences, is culturally appropriate for Spanish-speaking immigrants from Latin America, and incorporates interactive exercises to engage trainees in discussions about musculoskeletal disorders and how to prevent them. It is based on state-of-the-art principles of adult education.Total training numbers for 2019 were 298 workers trained in 526.5 hours of training. This breaks down as follows.141 workers trained in preventing slips, trips and falls in 235.5 hours of training. We used a guide we developed under a previous Oregon OSHA grant to conduct these trainings during the first two quarters of the grant year while the MSD guide was under development. 157 workers trained in preventing MSDs in 291 hours of training. Evaluation of TrainingsTo evaluate the trainings on preventing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) we called a small sample of the workers who had participated in trainings during the previous 6 months. Fourteen workers were contacted by telephone during November and December of 2019. These workers were asked if they did anything differently to protect their health and safety and at work, if they had tried to resolve problems at work, and if they had done anything else differently at work since attending a training. This evaluation revealed that the training in preventing musculoskeletal disorders helped nearly three-quarters of the workers with whom we conducted follow-up interviews develop safer work practices that reduce their risk of developing MSDs. This suggests that the training had an overall beneficial effect. The challenge of workers not following safe work practices out of fear of reprisals by the job foreman (and to a lesser extent peer group pressure, or choosing to rely on luck) remains, however. Nevertheless, the majority of the workers pressed ahead with changes, despite reactions of their foremen, so that they and their coworkers were working more safely. One worker summed it up: The only thing that I can say is that you shouldnt be afraid of the foremen.Direct Assistance to MembersIn 2019 we assisted forest workers recover wages owed to them, helped injuredworkers navigate the workers compensation system, and referred workers to legalcounsel to help them resolve workplace issues.Outreach and Education to the PublicIn 2019 NFWC staff attended and/or convened monthly meetings, conducted canvassingcampaigns to educate the public about forest worker issues, and tabled at severalpublic events dispensing information about forest worker and harvester issues, workers rights, and occupational safety and health. NFWC staff also conductedand/or attended meetings with agency officials and state legislators to educatethem about the realities of forest work.NFWC staff, together with colleagues at other institutions, published System Failure: Work Organization and Injury Outcomes among Latino Forest Workers in the Journal of Agromedicine in February, 2019, and in March published a report titled Dangers in the Woods: Root Causes/Peligros en el Bosque: Causas Raices. The J. of Agromedicine article is available for download at https://nwforestworkers.org/resources/peer-reviewed-publications and the report is available at https://nwforestworkers.org/resources/reports.The guide for training forest workers in preventing musculoskeletal disorders is available for download at https://nwforestworkers.org/resources/health-and-safety-resources.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 0th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -61.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 29.3%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 23.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings