Foresters meet in Christchurch for safety push

THE FOCUS IS MOST DEFINITELY ON SAFETY IN THESE EARLY weeks of 2019, as the forestry sector comes together this month to try and keep people out of harm’s way – made more poignant by the death of a young logger near Gisborne in February.

The first Safetree conference is taking place in Christchurch on March 13 and 14 and is a joint effort by the Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC) and the Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA), with former All Black and mental health champion, Sir John Kirwan, giving the keynote speech.

There’s been growing disquiet within the industry and from WorkSafe about the upward trend in injuries and deaths in forestry, says FISC National Safety Director, Fiona Ewing.

“This conference is a chance for forest owners, managers, contractors and their staff to come together and to hear some new ideas for how to keep people safe,” Mrs Ewing says.

“It’s about making sure you and your people don’t join those statistics.”

Prue Younger, CEO of FICA, says the conference will help get contractors back on the front foot to explore how best to equip themselves with the information and tools to ensure everyone in the forest is safe.

She says the numbers who have already committed to attend is excellent, but there is still room for last minute decision makers who wish to join in.

“We can accommodate more people and I think it is really important that contractors try and make time for this gathering because they’ll take so much out of it – and the result could save someone’s life or prevent them from being hurt,” says Younger.

One of the unspoken safety issues that will be aired at the conference is the subject of mental health. It’s something that men in particular are reluctant to open up about and foresters aren’t immune. That is why former rugby star Sir John Kirwan, who now promotes mental health awareness following his own battles with depression, is kicking off the conference as keynote speaker on the subject. Another hot topic for the industry is WorkSafe’s approach to compliance issues and for that reason Daniel Hummerdal, Chief Advisor Health & Safety Innovation at WorkSafe, will also present at the conference. Daniel will talk about how safety has traditionally been approached through a ‘control and compliance’ lens. While this has produced some benefits, there have also been some problematic side-effects. He’ll outline a framework and some tools for how organisations can engage around safety in a more informative way.

Several other leading health and safety experts will also guide conference attendees through more informed ways of achieving better outcomes in the workplace.

One of the most useful aspects of the conference will be the workshops, where attendees will learn first-hand about how they can encourage their teams to work better and faster, while remaining safe. They can also learn how to make tailgates more useful, engaging and effective.