Cutting the Risk: Chainsaw Injuries, PPE, and Safety Training

By Chuck Coup, PA SFI® Implementation Committee Program Manager 

A chainsaw is one of the most useful tools a forest landowner can own, but it’s also one of the most dangerous. A recent peer-reviewed study in the journal Safety looked at chainsaw injuries in the United States between 2018 and 2022 and estimated that nearly 128,000 nonoccupational users (e.g., homeowners, farmers, and other occasional operators) were treated in emergency departments for chainsaw-related injuries, averaging about 70 people every day. Most of those injuries were deep cuts to hands, arms, legs, and feet, and roughly 15 percent were serious enough to require hospitalization or transfer for more advanced care.

One of the clearest messages from the research is that personal protective equipment (PPE) and training make a difference. The authors noted that lack of training, improper use, and lower rates of PPE use were common factors among nonoccupational injury cases. When professional loggers are trained, they learn to treat PPE such as helmets, hearing and eye protection, chainsaw chaps or pants, and appropriate footwear, not as optional extras, but as standard equipment required to run a chainsaw. Professional loggers also learn how to plan cuts, read tree lean, maintain escape routes, and recognize when conditions are simply too risky. Decades of experience suggest that this combination of good PPE use and engagement with training is a big part of why serious injuries are less common among professional chainsaw operators than among occasional users working on their own.

For more than 30 years, the Pennsylvania SFI^® Implementation Committee (PA SFI) has provided that kind of training for loggers and others who work in the woods. Chainsaw safety and felling are core elements of our Professional Timber Harvester Training Program, which supports the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standards. SFI is the only major forest certification system that requires participating companies to ensure that their wood producers are trained in logging safety and applicable regulations. In Pennsylvania, that expectation has helped build a strong training infrastructure, including courses that focus specifically on safe chainsaw work. Many of the same principles and techniques that keep professional timber harvesters safer are just as relevant to forest landowners who cut their own firewood, clear trails, or fell trees on their properties.

Man with chainsaw and personal protective equipment walking in woods

One of the most effective hands-on options we offer is the Game of Logging training series. Game of Logging courses are widely recognized across North America as a leading approach to chainsaw safety and precision felling. In Level 1, participants learn fundamentals such as PPE use, chainsaw maintenance, reactive forces, the open face notch, bore cutting, and establishing an escape route, all in a controlled field setting with an experienced instructor coaching each cut. Higher levels build on those skills with more complex felling situations, limbing and bucking techniques, and strategies for working safely in more challenging or technical conditions. The emphasis throughout is on planning, control, and PPE, exactly the factors that research shows can prevent serious injuries.

These courses are not limited to professional loggers. PA SFI training is open to anyone with an interest in the content, including forest landowners who operate saws on their woodlots. If you operate a chainsaw on your property, even if it’s “just” for firewood, storm clean up, or thinning small areas, investing in training is one of the best safety decisions you can make for yourself and your family.

PA SFI chainsaw safety and Game of Logging courses are typically offered in the spring (mid-March through mid-May) and fall (mid-September through mid-November) at various locations across Pennsylvania. To see current offerings and register, visit sfiofpa.org/register. You will find course descriptions, dates, and locations, and you can sign up online. Whether you manage many acres or just a small woodlot, taking the time to get trained and to gear up properly every time you pick up a saw are concrete steps you can take to “cut the risk” while you care for your woods.

For more information about the PA SFI^® Implementation Committee, visit their website at sfiofpa.org or call 888-734-9366.