Two new projects run by Skill Insight and ForestWorks are underway to support skills development in manual tree felling with a chainsaw. Source: Timberbiz
They follow the 2023-24 Tree Felling Project, which reviewed and updated three units for manual tree felling.
During that project, there was strong industry support for the addition of prerequisites to the units, to ensure learners have the necessary experience before enrolling. However, this was not within the scope of that project and required additional time to investigate. Adding prerequisites to the units presents challenges in maintaining their accessibility and reaching a consensus on the appropriate prerequisites to use.
Manual tree felling using a chainsaw is a crucial skill across arboriculture, emergency services, land management, and forestry.
It is important that anyone learning these skills already possesses certain preliminary skills before undertaking training in tree felling, so they remain safe throughout their learning, assessment and future employment. For instance, learners should have chainsaw handling skills before training in basic tree felling and they should have the skills to fell a standard tree before training to fell complex trees.
Pathway to tree felling skills project
Skills Insight and ForestWorks are undertaking this project to investigate the addition of prerequisites to the tree felling units or alternative mechanisms to ensure learners who enroll in tree felling possess the necessary skills.
The team will engage with the Training Package Assurance Body and State Training Authorities to seek advice on the feasibility of prerequisites and how to best support learner safety given the high-risk of the activity and variability in delivery across training providers and industries.
Consultation will also take place with employers, registered training organisations and unions from across relevant industries to understand the various viewpoints on the issue.
Out of this, we will draft recommendations and an activity plan to support skill development in tree felling while promoting safety and adherence to delivery standards. Feedback will be collected on the recommendations and activity plan to check they are in line with stakeholder needs and expectations.
A report including this information will be submitted to the Department of Employment and Workforce Relations to inform future work to strengthen the tree felling units and their delivery.
Further details about the project team and timeline will be available soon.
Tree allocation partnerships project
Skills Insight and ForestWorks are undertaking this project to develop a mechanism for sourcing trees for delivery of the tree felling units. In consultation with stakeholders, we will investigate ways to establish partnerships between RTOs and organisations that can facilitate access to trees, such as forestry companies, councils, landowners, national parks services and other relevant stakeholders.
The team will consult to understand existing partnerships, practices and regulations relating to tree allocation, as well as the challenges associated with each. From here, we will develop protocols and guidelines to support partnerships for identifying, allocating, and managing trees for training purposes, which will be tested with a small selection of RTOs and stakeholders.
Implementation support materials and a virtual workshop will be developed to help roll out the protocol to a broader cohort of stakeholders. Our team will follow up with participants to assess the effectiveness of the protocol and produce a report outlining these findings.
The project aims to support continued delivery of the tree felling units, so that all workers are equipped with the skills to safely fell trees using a chainsaw.
Further details about the project team and timeline will be available soon.
