Forestry safety plan to be unveiled at the Expo
Forestry is New Zealand’s third largest exporter – but at the same time it also has a high proportion of workplace deaths and injuries.
Of the five sectors where the most harm is occurring – construction, forestry, agriculture, manufacturing and fishing – forestry has the highest rate of workplace deaths.
The majority of these accidents involve the tasks of tree felling and breaking out – we can and must do better to improve safety in the industry.
That’s why the Department of Labour has developed a Forestry Sector Action Plan. It sets out a number of actions to reduce this toll under the following areas:
- growing safety leadership
- building relationships with those in the sector
- increasing the availability and uptake of appropriate training
- building knowledge to establish clear safety standards for tree felling and breaking out.
We’ve worked with the NZ Forest Owners Association’s health and safety training committee and ACC to develop the Action Plan. The Minister of Labour will be launching it outside the Department’s information stand at the Forest Industries Expo at 9.30am on Wednesday 7 September.
The Action Plan is part of the National Action Agenda which is focused on reducing the work toll in the five sectors where the most harm is occurring. The Forestry Sector Action Plan is the second to be released – with the Construction Sector Action Plan released in May.
At the launch of the Forestry Sector Action Plan we’ll also be asking stakeholders in the industry to sign up to the Partners in Action Pledge which is a symbolic acknowledgement of the collaborative approach needed to reduceNew Zealand’s work toll.
People willing to do their part can become Partners in Action with the Department of Labour – in return they’ll be kept in the loop about workplace health and safety activities via email and will be recognised on the Department’s website.