Cornelis F. de Hoop

Characteristics of Injuries in the Logging Industry of Louisiana, USA: 1986 to 1998

Abstract Characterizing injuries and their trends will allow safety managers to concentrate their resources on the areas of safety that will be most effective in the workplace. Injuries reported to the Louisiana Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration for 1986 to 1998 were characterized according to the part of the body affected, the nature of the injury, the source of the injury, and the type of accident for the timber harvesting industry. Many of the injuries in the logging sector were sprains / strains to the knees. Injuries resulting from falling onto structures and surfaces were common and rising. Although the number of accidents in each category is generally decreasing, some trends should be of concern. There was no significant linear trend in overall accident rates since 1991. While the proportion of cuts and lacerations declined, the proportion of fractures increased. This coincided with a time period when logging operations in Louisiana experienced rapid mechanization and insurance companies started enforcing the use of personal protective equipment. The proportion of transportation accidents rose more than any other category. Some suggestions on focusing and improving current safety programs are given. The need for continued and improved training of managers and employees seems to be most critical.

Unused Logging Production Capacity in Northern New England, USA

Abstract Among the costs associated with timber harvesting in northern New England, those related to unused production capacity are among the most poorly understood. Yet research in other regions of the US suggests that idle logging capacity can impose significant costs on wood supply systems, including logging businesses and procurement organizations. Mail surveys of logging business owners and representatives of wood consuming mills were used to understand unused logging capacity in the northern New England states: Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Over two-thirds of logging business owners said that they experienced unused production capacity in an “average” year. Weather, poor road conditions, equipment breakdowns, and mill-imposed quotas, were cited most often as causes of unused logging capacity. Results of this study have implications for logging businesses, procurement organizations, and wood supply system efficiency in northern New England.

Characterization of Biobased Polyurethane Foams Employing Lignin Fractionated from Microwave Liquefied Switchgrass

Lignin samples fractionated from microwave liquefied switchgrass were applied in the preparation of semirigid polyurethane (PU) foams without purification. The objective of this study was to elucidate the influence of lignin in the PU matrix on the morphological, chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the PU foams. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that lignin with 5 and 10% content in the PU foams did not influence the cell shape and size. The foam cell size became larger by increasing the lignin content to 15%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that chemical interactions occurred between the lignin hydroxyl and isocyanate revealing that lignin was well dispersed in the matrix materials. The apparent density of the foam with 10% lignin increased by 14.2% compared to the control, while the foam with 15% lignin had a decreased apparent density. The effect of lignin content on the mechanical properties was similar to that on apparent density. The lignin containing foams were much more thermally stable than the control foam as evidenced by having higher initial decomposition temperature and maximum decomposition rate temperature from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) profiles.

Bio-based UV protective films prepared with polylactic acid (PLA) and Phoebe zhennan extractives

In this study, diethyl ether extractives were isolated from Phoebe zhennan wood and then added into PLA matrix for the preparation of UV protective films (UV-PF). The results revealed that the diethyl ether extractives had good compatibility with PLA. The prepared UV-PF with the addition of 24 wt% extractives showed complete absorption of UV-C (200-280 nm) and UV-B (280-315 nm) and more than 90% absorption of UV-A (315-400 nm), indicating the addition of extractives into PLA contributed to the super UV resistant ability of the PLA based films. The UV-PF still exhibited excellent UV absorbability after strong UV light irradiation. The differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis of the films showed that the UV-PF had relatively low thermal degradation temperature compared to the neat PLA films (PF), while the UV-PF showed stronger tensile strength with comparison to that of the PF. The results on the chemical composition analysis of the diethyl ether extractives revealed that the UV absorbability of the UV-PF may own to the benzene structure, CO bonds, CC bonds in the constituents of the extractives, which all have strong absorption in the near UV-region (200-400 nm).