forest talk
Don’t compromise on safety “ANY BUSINESS WITH FIELD STAFF SHOULD STAY ON TOP OF HOW those workers go about their job on an ongoing basis. It can be easy for safety to be compromised without workers necessarily realising it while they’re working remotely, and employers need to be attuned to that risk,” says WorkSafe Area Investigation Manager, Danielle Henry, in light of an investigation into the death of a forestry technician in northern Hawke’s Bay two years ago. Inadequate training and supervision contributed to the death, he says. The 48-year-old was fatally crushed at Quail Ridge Forest in Putere, near Wairoa, in November 2020. The man was repairing a harvester head, when the device was activated by being manually spun. Employer, Waratah Forestry Services, pleaded guilty to health and
safety failures. WorkSafe identified that Waratah’s field technicians had been inadequately trained about the risks and controls involved in such a repair job, and weren’t properly monitored to correct any unsafe practices. “Although the field technicians were provided with some safety instruction, the manuals for the harvester head were large and the ‘buddy’ training system the business had was insufficient. There was no other supervision and monitoring of the field technicians’ safety knowledge and practices,” adds Mr Henry. “The victim was a much-loved father, husband, and brother and it’s important we recognise the family’s loss as this case comes to a close,” he says. NZL
Mitigate against alcohol in the workplace A PORT WORKER HAS BEEN FINED $20,000 FOR OPERATING machinery while intoxicated. The digger operator, Mark Deans, was sentenced and fined in the Invercargill District Court in relation to an incident at Port Otago. On the morning of 17 October 2021, Mr Deans arrived late to work, missing the toolbox meeting and failed to report in to his foreman. Heading straight to the bulk carrier, IVS Kingbird, replacing another operator stowing away logs. Mr Deans was not rostered to be working on the digger. He was contacted by the foreman, who asked him to report to see him. He declined, saying he would report in five minutes. While stowing, the digger tipped over as Mr Deans was lifting and moving logs while the digger was in a precarious position. The foreman froze operations. When exiting the digger, it was noticed Mr Deans was unsteady on his feet. He was taken to the break room for observations. A breath alcohol test was undertaken, with Mr Deans recording readings of 880 and 830 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 250 micrograms. Maritime NZ Investigations Manager, Pete Dwen, says Mr Deans breached his responsibilities as a worker by turning up under the influence of alcohol. “His employer, C3 has steps in place to mitigate against the risk of incidents like these occurring. They include toolbox meetings, and getting staff to check in with the foreman should they be late and miss the toolbox meeting. “He bypassed all of these processes, knowing he would likely have been too impaired to undertake his job safely. “Working under the influence of alcohol is exceptionally dangerous, and Mr Deans continues to suffer ongoing concussion issues as a result of the incident,” Mr Dwen says. His level of intoxication was significantly above the limit imposed by the company’s policy, and he was over twice the legal limit of breath alcohol for operating a motor vehicle on the road. NZL 8 NZ LOGGER | February 2023
