The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is running its fourth Safety and Health Awareness Day for the forestry industry on Wednesday, March 19th at Lyndhurst, Hampshire in an effort to tackle the high rate of fatal and major injury in the industry, which is 60 times higher than the national average.
HSE's Forestry Safety and Health Awareness Days have been running for three years and have been a major success. They have been developed in close partnership with the industry and are being delivered by trainers who have years of experience working in the forest.
Wednesday's event will look at some of the most frequent causes of accidents and work through common sense solutions, which would have prevented them from happening.
Current issues such as machinery safety, managing public access, hand arm vibration syndrome and work-related deafness in forestry work will be covered at the free event. HSE Inspectors will also be present to discuss any issues with those attending in a relaxed and informal setting.
Statistically, forestry workers had the highest number of fatalities and serious and major injuries (per 100,000 workers) compared to any specific occupation group in agriculture (incidence rate five times the agriculture average. Some 11 per cent of agriculture fatalities are tree work related).
HSE will also be using the day to film footage which will then be used for producing podcasts that will be available to download or view from HSE's forthcoming Tree Work website - as a new way for the HSE to get important information and guidance to workers and managers.
Local HSE Inspector (Hampshire) Roger Upfold said:
"It is vital that all involved in forestry follow safety procedures carefully and properly supervise their employees who could be working with a range of equipment including chain saws and large machines such as skidders and forwarders.
"Only last year HSE successfully prosecuted a forestry contractor on the Isle of Wight after a teenage employee suffered severe injuries to his shoulder after being crushed by the grab arm of a forwarder machine during timber recovery."