Understanding felling safety in the New Zealand forest industry

Highest injury rates within the New Zealand forest sector are reported for the logging operation, with up to 30% of logging injuries occurring during the felling task. This paper reports findings from a detailed task and job safety analysis of the motor-manual (chainsaw) felling task, and an analysis of New Zealand Accident Reporting Scheme data for logging injuries for the five-year period, 1996-2000. Key safety factors, including physical hazards and potential errors and violations associated with the felling task, were determined from the task and job safety analysis, along with possible adverse consequences and potential solutions for reducing injury risk. The potential for injury among inexperienced fellers was noted, as felling safety was dependent upon appropriate assessment of hazards and good judgement in respect of decisions regarding the felling of trees. The analysis of some 351 reported felling injury cases allowed identification of high-risk task elements, common injury initiating events and temporal and logger population injury patterns. Findings from the two methods of analysis were triangulated where possible to produce a better understanding of key risk areas. The potential risk associated with inexperienced employees, who incurred a high proportion of felling injuries, and the need for good judgement and decision making for different aspects of the felling task were particularly noted.