A safety council has been set up to help make forests safer workplaces. Source: Radio New Zealand
The council – formed earlier this year and launched at Parliament has been set up in response to a recommendation from a panel that reviewed forestry safety last year.
Dame Alison Paterson will chair it and its board will include representatives of forest owners, contractors, workers, unions and Worksafe.
Ms Paterson is currently a director of GMI Investments, Vector, Stevenson Agriculture, among other companies, and has previously chaired the state owned farming enterprise, Landcorp.
A national safety director is also being appointed to the council, whose role will be to make sure the work program is being delivered, with a steady improvement in safety performance.
The forest safety review followed an appalling accident and death rate in 2013, when 10 forestry workers died and 169 were seriously injured in workplace accidents.
Last year there was one forestry fatality, and serious injuries fell by 25 percent.
The council’s funding will come from ACC, Worksafe and a forest grower levy.
Forest Owners Association president Paul Nicholls said there had been a dramatic turn-round in safety performance since 2013 but it was vital to maintain and reinforce a culture of safety.
