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OH&S safety accord welcomed

An enthusiastic reception greeted the launch of the newly formed Forest Industry Safety Accord. Source: Institute of Occupational Health and Safety UK

“It is vital that the Safety Accord secures support from all corners of the industry”, said Accord chairman Steve Lavery, “and therefore it was great to see over 80 people attending the launch”.

Participants listened to three presentations followed by a question and answer session.

HSE Director, Professor Richard Taylor, praised the impressive collaboration demonstrated in establishing the Accord with 30 businesses already signed up, encompassing industry leading players and contractors.

Lavery spoke of the motivations behind the initiative and urged those present to muster everyone in the forest industry value chain to support the Accord’s objectives

“We in the value chain all have a moral responsibility to support the objectives to reduce accidents and injury in our industry,” he said.

“Our sector’s performance is three times worse than that in construction and must improve.”

Lavery went on to highlight that contractors, and particularly those exposed, operating outside a cab or on the open hill, were the most at risk, and should be the focus of attention.

Donald Maclean, Chairman of the Forestry Contracting Association also spoke in support of the Accord while warning of the challenges that lay ahead with increasing costs on contractors’ operations and the importance of ensuring equitability between all the players in the value chain.

A key area of development will be seeking to drive ‘behavioural change’ towards health and safety as the group looks to make real changes in the way the industry approaches and develops its thinking on safety.