3 December 2013

Forestry contractors say the restructuring of the Accident Compensation Corporation and the reorganisation of safety inspection services have contributed to an increase in logging injuries and deaths.

Two forestry workers were killed on the job in Nelson and the central North Island last week, bringing the total number of deaths in the industry this year to nine.

The Forest Industry Contractors Association says restructuring has caused a delay in safety inspections and in accident prevention work in forests. It also says government funding for joint safety programmes was withheld for 18 months and is only now resuming.

Chief executive John Stulen says moves by ACC to reduce levies by 17% will mean less money for accident prevention work.

The association is welcoming current government inspections of logging sites and the action it is taking in shutting down dangerous operations. However, it says forestry inspections have been neglected for years.

Mr Stulen says the industry does not know how many inspectors are used to monitor forestry contractors - but it is obvious that there aren't enough of them.

"The inspectors have been under-resourced and a number of them left the inspectorate because they were so frustrated by, in actual fact, two or three years of restructuring."

Mr Stulen says those inspectors were spending so much time on internal matters that they were not doing their job. He says it is great more inspections are being carried out, but he does not think they can keep it up.

"I guarantee you the rate of inspections they are doing now is not sustainable with their current inspectorate workforce."

Health and safety group manager Ona de Rooy told Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme on Monday that the ministry has issued 182 safety enforcement notices in its investigation so far and the time for talk is over.

"Two more families lost loved ones last week, two more communities had key people within their communities killed. It's really important that we move past talk, we need to be out there taking action and working with the industry now to change behaviour."

Source: Radio New Zealand news