Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

The Forest Harvesting industry is highly valued in British Columbia as a major contributor to the provincialeconomy. Canada, itself, is recognized as a world leader in timber export, and over 400,000 hectares of forestare harvested and replanted annually with over 600 million seedlings. Every planting season, more than threethousand silviculture workers, also known as tree planters, are employed in British Columbia to sustain theforests for future production (personal communication). This work is very physical demanding and silvicultureworkers are prone to significant rates of work-related musculoskeletal injuries due to high repetition and thepiece-rate method of compensation. Nearly 90 percent of tree planters sustain a work-related injury in theircareer, and the wrist area is particularly vulnerable to injury (Smith, 1987). In British Columbia, between theyears of 2010-2014, there were 2,282 work days lost in the silviculture industry due to repetitive motioninjuries, at a claims cost of $1,181,000 (WorkSafe BC Stats).The purpose of this project seeks to determine:1. If the efficacy of a novel taping technique used will minimize the incidence and prevalence of a commontendinitis of the wrist area in planters.2. What the most effective strategy is for administrating the novel taping technique.The results of this study could have very practical and immediate impact on the health of this at-risk populationof silviculture workers.