SafeTree

Fiona’s blog – it’s about growing capability, not just audits

It’s our first year of Safetree Contractor Certification and we’re very close to having 100 certified contractors (92).

I’ve had many discussions about why we have certification for our industry; it demonstrates commitment to our ‘social licence to operate’, professionalism and industry leadership!

I sometimes hear people say that their internal audits are better than Safetree Contractor Certification. My response; it’s not about better, it’s that Safetree Contractor Certification is different from internal audits.

The aim of the Safetree certification process is to grow capability and promote ownership and leadership of health and safety with contractors. Many contractors ‘do health and safety’ because someone else has asked them to – either the forest owner/manager they work for or the regulator – and they use someone else’s system and processes. This can mean they don’t fully understand the risks to their business and people, and the benefit good H&S can have on their bottomline.

We’ve started the first phase of certification with safety (a little bit of health) and employment conditions. The focus is on the three pillars of health and safety – leadership, risk management and worker engagement – and how you address these in your business. Our plan is to grow capability by adding in environment, health and business capability. We will also work with Certified Contractors and introduce the Safetree Growing our Safety Culture and Safetree leadership programmes. All this will be done in partnership with the sector, with a particular focus on working with FICA, NZFOA and NZFFA.

If you have questions, comments or want to raise any concerns about certification then please contact me (E:Fiona.ewing@fisc.org.nz; M: 027 502 8065)

Thanks for your support for Safetree and FISC this year and I look forward to working with you next year.

Merry Christmas and all the best for a happy and healthy 2019.

Tailgate meeting template

We’ve launched a new tailgate meeting template to support foremen to run tailgate meetings. This template can be used with our Tailgate Meeting Topic cards to help set crews up for a good day.

The template suggests a new approach to tailgate meetings. In addition to planning for the day ahead, it encourages people to learn from yesterday – to talk about anything that made the work more difficult yesterday and come up with ideas for avoiding those issues today. It also encourages people to plan for tomorrow – to talk about what’s needed to make sure the work goes smoothly.

Download the template

See the Tailgate Talking Topic cards

John Kirwan speaks at Safetree Conference: 13 – 14 March Christchurch

Registrations are now open for the Safetree Conference on 13-14 March in Christchurch, being held in conjunction with FICA. Guest speaker at the conference will be John Kirwan, former NZ All Black and rugby union coach. Sir John, as he is now, is also a passionate advocate for improving mental health, particularly for those suffering from depression.

See more about the event or register

Research on how relocating for work affects safety

This survey is being conducted by a Master’s student at the University of Canterbury. It looks at the effects of relocating for work on safety, including how it affects people’s ability to pay attention. To participate you must be employed in New Zealand in a higher-risk industry. It’s open to people who have relocated for work, and those who haven’t. The survey takes less than 15 minutes and is anonymous. People who do the survey go in the draw to win one of nine $100 grocery vouchers.

Do the survey