 Welcome to the very first edition of the Health and Safety News, intended for sharing with contractors working in the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme (the Programme). This is part of our shared mission to see everyone working at the 'coal face' of this Programme safe and well, by sharing information, ideas and guidance. We're keen to include contractors' ideas too. Tell us what you do to ensure your people get home safe, and let us know what you think of this newsletter and what you want to get out of it. In this newsletter:
Reporting Incidents - you get out what you put inThanks to everyone who has reported incidents quickly and accurately. Properly investigating incidents and near misses and submitting compete reports provides valuable learnings that we can all benefit from. The more information you provide when logging an incident, the fewer questions you are likely to receive to follow up on, so remember to always include enough information about:
Whether an occurrence rates as a 'near miss' or an 'incident' can also be open to interpretation between people with different industry backgrounds. If you're not sure, or wondering which details are important to provide when reporting an incident, you can give one of the Operations team (Johno, Adam, Randall) a call with any queries.  Fire is always a riskOur activities present a potential risk for fire ignition, and we often work in places where wildfires pose a risk to worker safety. In light of recent events and the predicted weather patterns for the summer, its important to do what we can to manage this risk. That means all crews working under an appropriate fire mitigation plan. Environment Canterbury and Zolve Environmental have supplied an example of a fire mitigation plan that they are happy for others to use as a template. This can be found on the website, wildingpines.nz/good-practice-guides  Health & Safety Incidents May to August 2023To discuss at toolbox meetings Sharing and learning from each others' experiences is a key to improving everyone's safety and well-being. We've summarised the near misses and incidents logged in the last quarter, with prompts to chat about at your toolbox meetings. Could these happen in your crew on a given day? How can you prevent it?
When cutting off excess wood after felling a tree, operator's hand saw slipped, causing it to connect with their supporting arm. Superficial cuts from 5 saw teeth. Notes/ actions taken: Poor body position was the root cause of this incident. Discussed body positioning in toolbox meeting.
Contractor tripped, and hose for drench gun came loose, allowing contents to spill and come into contact. Affected area flushed with water on site, taken to local medical centre for follow up. No injury. Notes/Action taken: Hose clip fitted to drench gun hose to prevent hose coming loose. Lesson to discuss: Make sure hoses are securely clamped. An extra clip can save some discomfort and stress. [Near miss] Shots heard while working Contractors working in foggy conditions heard gun shots. Notes/Action taken: They left work area and contacted local landowners to determine who might be using a firearm. Lesson to discuss: Getting out of the area and alerting landowners was the right thing to do. Be aware of others in your surroundings and make sure your work areas are signposted so others know you are there if you are not easily visible. Signs are available from the Operations team.
Wheel nuts became loose on a vehicle used to transport workers. Investigation found that the wheel had been recently replaced and had not been put on correctly. Notes/Action taken: Vehicle checks are now undertaken fortnightly. Lesson to discuss: How often are your vehicles checked, and would you have caught this problem?
Details: Mixed chemical accidentally left on a private farm. This was due to miscommunication of the location and number of drums on site. Notes/Action taken: Fund Manager has made it a requirement that contractors remove chemical from the site at the end of each day. Lesson to discuss: What could have gone wrong here? How can you make sure communications are clearly received and followed?
Worker was moving through bracken, cutting when required, to reach target wilding tree. They had not applied the chain brake in this instance (as per training). The chain brushed against their left thigh damaging their chaps. No injury. Notes/Action taken: Worker was taken off chainsaw work and put on hand tools until they can work in more open country, as per company policy. Worker has undertaken additional training and a reassessment before going back to chainsaw work. A meeting was held with all the crew on site to discuss the incident. Lessons to discuss: 1. Chaps are an essential part of your personal protective gear. 2. Always have that chain brake on when moving between trees. 3. Be mindful of your surroundings and how they affect your movement and gear you are carrying. Contractor Spotlight:Godfrey Pest Management Training DaySubmitted by Wayne Godfrey, Owner  "On 4 September 2023 the Godfrey Pest Management team had a day dedicated to ongoing Training and Health Monitoring. It was a busy day with a variety of training on offer, staff eager to learn and so much valuable information to be shared. Everyone gained something from the day whether it was an old skill refreshed, or a new skill acquired. Health and Safety training is particularly important in industry as we are often in locations where specialised vehicles and even helicopters are required to reach a work site. The terrain can be rough and knowing how to handle a vehicle on various road surfaces is key. It was beneficial to receive training on vehicle handling on gravel and tar roads with a LUV loaded trailer.  Training on how to properly fit snow chains along with correct tow strop fittings, tyre changing and LUV tyre repairs were given. These can all be needed at any given time or place in our daily operations. Working on mountain tops, hills and valleys is a refreshing escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, but with it comes isolation and sometimes no signal to make contact. For this we make use of remote satellite communication devices such as Zoleo to enable us to keep in contact. Our staff have been trained in how this lifeline- communication system works and what needs to be done in a life-threatening situation. Because the local chainsaw shop is not just around the corner from our job sites, we must also ensure that staff can safely identify and perform minor maintenance repairs on equipment. The Chainsaw maintenance training was an ideal example of how to check for small issues and how to correct or prevent them when needed. After the annual health checks and tourniquet training our team was joined by Alan Tinnelly and Adam Ross for a fabulous BBQ, their attendance was a much appreciated and valued site visit from Biosecurity New Zealand / MPI. Our Health and Safety approach is to continually find potential gaps, or weaknesses in our systems, techniques and procedures, then fill or modify them with the appropriate training and or corrective measures to collectively reduce the risk of injury and harm. We are happy to know our staff are well equipped to deal with those unexpected situations especially because of the remote locations we tend to work at."  Who said safety can’t be fun?Click on the video link below for an original approach to making health and safety messages memorable. If this was valuable, share with your crew to keep them safe Tell us straight up: Was this useful? How often would you want to receive more? If you have feedback, questions, or a story or tip to share, we're keen to hear it. Hit Reply or email |
