Felling trees is a high-risk operation and yet some farmers, landowners and other operators continue to carry out this work without sufficient training or without correct equipment and clothing.
Farmers and other landowners – including forest owners – have responsibilities in relation to felling and harvesting operations. Where they carry out felling themselves – even if it is only occasional felling, delimbing of trees or cutting firewood – they need to be properly trained in chainsaw work and should never work on their own.
Woodland owners also have duties to those who work and visit their forests regardless of who they employ to carry out the planning and harvesting on the site. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and other agencies such as Teagasc highlight the importance of health and safety, as well as training even in the most routine chainsaw work.
Legal duties
Whether you are a timber grower or purchaser, contractor or subcontractor (operator), you have legal duties to fulfil in order to ensure that people’s safety and health is not put at risk during, or as a result of, forestry operations. The law requires that, during the planning and carrying out of forestry operations, a number of safety and health duties be fulfilled, including:
Preparing written risk assessments.Selecting suitable equipment for the job.Protecting public safety and health.Setting out safe working procedures.Ensuring operators are competent.Supervising and monitoring the work.Depending on the contractual relationship, different role-holders may share duties. To successfully manage safety and health, you need to coordinate your activities with others and pass information up and down the contract chain.
To help this flow of information and to ensure that the right people carry out the right tasks, the code of practice for managing safety and health in forestry operations sets out four management roles:
The landowner role.The forestry work manager (FWM) role.The contractor role.The sub-contractor role.Within any forestry contract you need to identify which of these roles falls to you and carry out the appropriate tasks. Depending on how the contracts are organised for a particular work site, you may pick up more than one role.
Within each role, the effort demanded by a particular task depends on the complexity and extent of the risks involved. The greater the risks, the greater the effort needed. Table 1 provides an overview of the four different management roles.
Visit www.hsa.ie for further information. You can download documents such as the “Code of Practice for Managing Safety and Health in Forestry Operations” and the “Guide to safe working with timber and chainsaws”.
Health and safety duties
Forest owners can employ a forestry company or consultant to manage the harvesting operation. Alternatively, the owner can employ a contractor if he/she has the necessary expertise. Either way, the main duty lies with the forest owner.
Employing a forestry company or consultant
Where a farmer or other landowner engages a forestry management company and/or a consultant to manage forestry operations, both parties take on the ‘‘landowner role’’ under the code of practice. In this case, the farmer must select a competent company or consultant capable of discharging the duties associated with the landowner role. These include:
Coordinating activities of the overall forest environment: this requires planning the operation and organising work to ensure that risks are, as far as possible, avoided. While members of the public are unlikely to access the work site of private growers, signage should be displayed signifying that tree felling is being carried out.Gather information about hazards on the site: while forestry companies or consultants plan the work, they will require information from the landowner about hazards on the site which may give rise to safety and health risks. These can be identified during site inspection as well as presenting the information in a site map featuring potential hazards. Training standards and supervision: discuss and agree with the forestry company or consultant, measures such as ensuring the optimum levels of training and supervision necessary for workers on the site. Duties of forest owners who
employ contractors directly
Where a forest owner directly engages a forestry contractor to carry out work without employing a forestry company, he or she is responsible for:
Preparation of outline risk assessment for the work on the site, which is passed on to the contractor(s).Select competent contractors who have made adequate provision for safety and health.Check contractor’s experience, training certificates and references.Specify the safety and health measures for contractors working on and visiting the site.Monitor safety and health on site.In this scenario, the owner will need to make reasonable enquiries to determine whether contractors have the skills, resources and required knowledge of forestry work.
Felling trees is a high-risk operation and yet some farmers, landowners and other operators continue to carry out this work without sufficient training or without correct equipment and clothing.
Farmers and other landowners – including forest owners – have responsibilities in relation to felling and harvesting operations. Where they carry out felling themselves – even if it is only occasional felling, delimbing of trees or cutting firewood – they need to be properly trained in chainsaw work and should never work on their own.
Woodland owners also have duties to those who work and visit their forests regardless of who they employ to carry out the planning and harvesting on the site. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and other agencies such as Teagasc highlight the importance of health and safety, as well as training even in the most routine chainsaw work.
Legal duties
Whether you are a timber grower or purchaser, contractor or subcontractor (operator), you have legal duties to fulfil in order to ensure that people’s safety and health is not put at risk during, or as a result of, forestry operations. The law requires that, during the planning and carrying out of forestry operations, a number of safety and health duties be fulfilled, including:
Preparing written risk assessments.Selecting suitable equipment for the job.Protecting public safety and health.Setting out safe working procedures.Ensuring operators are competent.Supervising and monitoring the work.Depending on the contractual relationship, different role-holders may share duties. To successfully manage safety and health, you need to coordinate your activities with others and pass information up and down the contract chain.
To help this flow of information and to ensure that the right people carry out the right tasks, the code of practice for managing safety and health in forestry operations sets out four management roles:
The landowner role.The forestry work manager (FWM) role.The contractor role.The sub-contractor role.Within any forestry contract you need to identify which of these roles falls to you and carry out the appropriate tasks. Depending on how the contracts are organised for a particular work site, you may pick up more than one role.
Within each role, the effort demanded by a particular task depends on the complexity and extent of the risks involved. The greater the risks, the greater the effort needed. Table 1 provides an overview of the four different management roles.
Visit www.hsa.ie for further information. You can download documents such as the “Code of Practice for Managing Safety and Health in Forestry Operations” and the “Guide to safe working with timber and chainsaws”.
Health and safety duties
Forest owners can employ a forestry company or consultant to manage the harvesting operation. Alternatively, the owner can employ a contractor if he/she has the necessary expertise. Either way, the main duty lies with the forest owner.
Employing a forestry company or consultant
Where a farmer or other landowner engages a forestry management company and/or a consultant to manage forestry operations, both parties take on the ‘‘landowner role’’ under the code of practice. In this case, the farmer must select a competent company or consultant capable of discharging the duties associated with the landowner role. These include:
Coordinating activities of the overall forest environment: this requires planning the operation and organising work to ensure that risks are, as far as possible, avoided. While members of the public are unlikely to access the work site of private growers, signage should be displayed signifying that tree felling is being carried out.Gather information about hazards on the site: while forestry companies or consultants plan the work, they will require information from the landowner about hazards on the site which may give rise to safety and health risks. These can be identified during site inspection as well as presenting the information in a site map featuring potential hazards. Training standards and supervision: discuss and agree with the forestry company or consultant, measures such as ensuring the optimum levels of training and supervision necessary for workers on the site. Duties of forest owners who
employ contractors directly
Where a forest owner directly engages a forestry contractor to carry out work without employing a forestry company, he or she is responsible for:
Preparation of outline risk assessment for the work on the site, which is passed on to the contractor(s).Select competent contractors who have made adequate provision for safety and health.Check contractor’s experience, training certificates and references.Specify the safety and health measures for contractors working on and visiting the site.Monitor safety and health on site.In this scenario, the owner will need to make reasonable enquiries to determine whether contractors have the skills, resources and required knowledge of forestry work.
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