Simon Richmond, Senior Technical Officer
The Arboriculture and Forestry Advisory Group (AFAG) met online on 15 June.
AFAG is a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) committee that sits under the Agricultural Industries Advisory Committee (AIAC) and is attended by stakeholders from across the sectors. Over the years, AFAG has also been responsible for providing industry-specific health and safety guidance in the form of AFAG Safety Guides. However, this role has now mostly been taken over by the Arboricultural Association for the arb sector and by the Forest Industries Safety Accord (FISA) for forestry.
The group received a report from Chris Maher, the HSE representative for the arb sector, on the collation of accident data statistics. This has always been a difficult task as accidents are recorded in different ways and even the formal RIDDOR reports do not necessarily get classified against the correct industry code. However, in recent years the HSE has taken the time and trouble to manually analyse hundreds of data entries to try to produce reliable statistics, and also to do this in a consistent way so that they can be compared over time, like with like. The work on the current report is nearing completion and it is hoped that a final published document will be available later this year.
Kathy Gostick, HSE lead for forestry and arb, announced a planned HSE inspection programme for forestry, focussing on high-risk activities.
A query had been submitted about battery-operated chainsaws and whether there is a requirement for them to have a light to show that the machine is ‘live’ to the trigger. The answer came that there is no such requirement in the standards; all saws must have a trigger lockout and operators will know that it is operable if a charged battery is attached.
There was discussion about the proposed principle from Lantra Awards to consider introducing a mandatory consolidation period following initial training, before assessment, and how this could be established so that it is recognised by industry. Of course this not a new concept and it was generally welcomed by the group. A more detailed proposal will be presented in the coming months.
A report from City and Guilds (C&G) confirmed that they have completed the revision of their main ‘licence to practice’ qualifications for the sector and are now looking at reviewing the Forest Machine Operator (FMO) qualifications. This introduced a discussion about complexity in terms of machines, attachments and types of operation, which makes definition and practical training and assessment a difficult process. This particularly applies to tree shear and grapple saw attachments, which are increasingly used in both arb and forestry, often in relation to removing ash with ash dieback, and can be fitted to a wide range of carrier vehicles.
The subject of C&G’s proposed CPD (continuing professional development) certification was also discussed and there was general concern at the lack of consultation about its introduction. It was agreed that our industry awarding organisations have a duty to the industries they serve, and their motivation must be in the sectors’ interests. Such developments affect the health and safety of and economic and commercial prospects for contractors and individuals, and appropriate consultation and agreement with the sector are therefore of crucial importance.
This led on to the wider issue of operator competence, with an update on the work being developed through the FISA Chainsaw group. The key issue remains around how to measure and record the task experience and time served and, as work scenarios present more complex challenges, how to identify adequate competency – of the operator and also the level of supervision required – to ensure the work can be carried out safely. As a sector we have to recognise that achieving successful methods of work, with adequate planning, preparation, suitable equipment, competent operators and appropriate supervision, comes at a cost and commercial viability cannot be used to justify poor and potentially unsafe practices.
This article was taken from Issue 198 Autumn 2022 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.