New best practice health and safety guidelines
New Zealand Tree
Grower August 2006
Dave Gratton
The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 promotes the management of
health and safety issues in industry. The Act requires principals and
self employed people who control places of work to take ‘all
practicable steps’ to eliminate, isolate or minimise work place
hazards.
Some new Best Practice Guidelines are coming on stream. Guidelines have
been formulated with industry input and agreement on best practices for
a particular job. If they apply to your operation then you should check
them out so you are aware of your responsibilities as well as the best
work practices to follow.
Safety management around electric
lines
Many farm forestry plantations have power lines running either through
or alongside them. The new guidelines Forest and Woodlot Safety
Management around Electric Lines shows the best practices to follow
when undertaking ground based harvesting, and for the siting of cable
logging haulers around power lines.
The guidelines were formulated through NZ Forest Owners Association,
the Forestry Contractors Association and power line companies. They can
be ordered through Forest Industry Training at forestindustries@fitec.org.nz,
website www.fitec.org.nz
Temporary traffic control on forest
roads
These guidelines are at the final draft stage. They are being developed
by NZ Forest Owners Association to minimise the risks from forest
activities on traffic using private forest roads. They cover all
aspects of temporary traffic control, from management and planning
processes, to guidelines for warning sign layout and use. They
represent the minimum standard of temporary traffic control on forest
roads and provide a workable means of ensuring the safety of road users
and workers.
The Road Controlling Authority is the organisation that owns or manages
the roads. For public roads this means Transit New Zealand and
territorial authorities. For private roads this may mean the forest
owner, farmer, or utility owner such as an energy company, is the Road
Controlling Authority.
Where a forestry road falls within the definition of a place of work,
forest owners including farm foresters and their contractors need to
consider and implement a hazard management plan. Then workers, other
contractors and visitors are warned of danger while on the road.
The guidelines show helpful examples of sign layout for particular
hazards. Once completed, the guidelines will be available through FITEC.
Farm airstrips
During the 10 years from 1993 to 2003 there have been 18 recorded fatal
accidents of top-dressing pilots, from an annual total of around 100
operators. This equates to an 18% fatality rate over 10 years.
The guidelines have the full title Farm Airstrips and Associated
Fertiliser Cartage, Storage and Application. They came about after a
pilot death whose last load included damp lime which became stuck in
the chute and could not be jettisoned. The result was the plane could
not lift and hit trees. It soon became apparent that while leaky
storage bins were at fault in this case, the wider issues of safety for
all concerned from manufacturing, delivery over farm tracks, storage on
site and airstrip layout and length needed to be considered.
Farm foresters with airstrips on their property should look at the
Civil Aviation Authority website to view these guidelines – search
under farm airstrips at www.caa.govt.nz
Safety reminders
Safe use of ATVs on farms
While the ATV guidelines have been out now for two years, people are
still being killed and injured, especially when riding adult size
quads. The full guidelines are available www.osh.govt.nz. The following
reminders are for all ATV users –
- Guidelines say children under the age of 12 years shall not be
permitted to drive a farm ATV
- Guidelines says extra precautions must be taken to minimise the
extra risks, and lists some options.
- ATV designed helmets are on sale and these had a huge farmer
input into the weight and design. When the guidelines were being
formulated ACC statistics were that 23% of all ATV injuries were to the
head.
Use of 4WD utilities on field trips
A number of farm foresters have mentioned to me recently that some
field trips have left them badly scared when they were sitting on the
deck of a utility.
If you are a driver on a field trip heading to the back of a property
for the first time, you will not be familiar with the track. You may
end up in a precarious position and assume you have no option but to
press on and hope to get out without rolling the machine.
This is not acceptable. As the driver you are responsible for your
passengers. Secondly, the landowner and organisers of the field trip
have obviously not taken due care to keep you and others from the risks
of harm.
Understanding the limitations of your machine when on a slope may keep
you alive a lot longer. But give a thought to your passengers who may
not have much to hold on to on the deck of your vehicle.
Organisers of field trips should download the checklist for field trips from the NZFFA
website.
This recommends that branch officials and landowners check out access
and risks before any field trips, fulfilling OSH requirements and
hopefully avoiding any accidents or injury.
Do we really need guidelines?
In a perfect world our common sense will keep us safe from harm, but
today in farming and forestry we work longer, harder, and faster than
ever before. Unfortunately repetition of task, tiredness and
dehydration are part of the mix where accidents are sure to happen.
While it is up to each one of us to control these factors, it is when
we are faced with situations outside our normal experience that
problems occur. It is an old saying that we cannot be masters of
everything, so being able to tap into the experience of others in
sometimes complex situations can be worthwhile both economically and in
keeping you safe.
Best practice guidelines are there to give you guidance.
Dave Gratton is the NZFFA’s Health
and Safety representative and a member of the Wellington Branch.
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