Ensuring Health and Safety of the Work Party

Ensuring Health and Safety of the work party

Ensuring that the work can be carried out safely is the primary objective of any work day. All other considerations are secondary to ensuring both the work party and members of the public are not injured when carrying out work. Forestry is an inherently dangerous activity and there are a significant number of serious injuries and fatalities to forest workers each year. By following the General Safety Procedures and the controls identified in the Site and Operations Risk Assessments the chances of injuries occurring is significantly reduced and while it is impossible to completely eliminate accidents, the controls also aim to limit the severity of injuries, should they occur.

GENERAL SAFETY PROCEDURES:

·  Sign volunteers in and out of worksite/area

·  All volunteers to be trained, or under instruction from more experienced volunteer

·  Designate group lunch/bag storage area, First Aid kit to be held at this location and obviously marked

·  If group is spread out across worksite, ensure communication between members

·  All volunteers recorded with group including emergency contact details and basic medical information

·  Tree felling warning signs should be placed on any Rights of Way and paths

·  If trees must be felled over frequently used paths, use two workers to hold back traffic during felling and ensure it can be cleared efficiently

·  Supervisor and all work part to be made aware of emergency site access

·  At least 1 mobile phone (ideally 2 of different networks) to be with the group and check for signal

·  If an incident occurs, stop all work and bring group together

·  Supervisor to check weather conditions – for woodland tasks, if there is high wind and/or heavy rain operations should be cancelled

·  In warm/ sunny weather, ensure that group brings extra sun block and at least 2 litres of water per worker

·  When cold and/or wet injuries and mistakes are more likely to happen – supervisor to be aware of this

·  Hygiene – all to be aware of the hazards from dog mess, Lymes and Weils disease (see HSE leaflets)

·  Make written record any medium injuries

·  Perform continuous Risk Assessment of site and weather conditions while working

·  If additional hazards are identified, ensure that Risk Assessment is amended

·  When calling Emergency services, give clear information of location, access, no. of casualties, nature of injury. In remote locations, it may be necessary to call Mountain Rescue through the 999 or 112 Emergency no and ask for POLICE (Police Force will then contact Mountain Rescue if required)

Risk Assessment Procedures

The purpose of a Risk Assessment is to:

·  Identify potential sources of harm, injury including hygiene and long term health problems

·  Identify who is at Risk

·  To quantify the likelihood and severity of harm, should it occur and using this information determine the Risk

·  Identify the means to reduce the likelihood of harm occurring, the severity of harm should it occur, or both.

·  A staff member/volunteer should be identified who is responsible for ensuring that the controls are implemented properly, though every worker has a responsibility for this

·  A means to review the Risk Assessment, though in practicality, Risk Assessments should be under constant review to ensure they are complete, relevant and that the controls can be practically implemented

Types of Risk Assessment

There are two types of risk assessment and they will usually be combined to create a Risk Assessment for any practical task.

Site Risk Assessments: This covers hazards inherent in the specific work site. It is usually natural hazards, but will include manmade structures such as buildings. Some hazards may be permanent (a steep slope for example) and others may be reasonably anticipated to occur (such as a fallen tree).

Operations Risk Assessment: This covers hazards inherent in the work being carried out. Often, more than one of these will be required to cover all the tasks planned for a day. Some operations, such as the use of tools have been covered under a single Risk Assessment, so that they can be combined with whichever practical task is being undertaken.

·  As an example, to carry out tree felling within a specific site the following Risk Assessment may be required: Fedw Wood Site Risk Assessment, Woodland Management Risk Assessment, Chainsaw use Risk Assessment, Hand Tools Use Risk Assessment, Working Near Roads Risk Assessment.

In some cases there will be an overlap between the Risk Assessments. For example, the Working Near Roads RA is a generic Risk Assessment, but the road and specifics of its layout should be identified on the Site RA, including preferred road crossing areas and any specific hazards such as a blind bend or steep section.

Quantifying Likelihood and Severity of Risks

This is not a precise process, but with thought and familiarity with the task, it is straightforward to assign a broad classification to both likelihood and severity. In all cases, consider what the reasonably expected outcome would be rather than a worse case scenario. For example, it is clearly possible to suffer a broken bone or head injury when tripping over, but in the vast majority of cases it is more reasonable to expect a cut, bruise or sprain. Also consider that all members of the work party will have a reasonable level of physical fitness. For those with lower levels of fitness (e.g. back problems) assign tasks according to the identified hazards.

Likelihood: Consider how often you would reasonably expect a hazard to occur or be present

LOW: Expected to occur less than monthly MED: Expected to occur monthly HIGH: Expected to occur daily

Severity: Consider how severe an injury would reasonably be expected to be.

LOW: Small injuries (general dealt with First Aid and rest) – cuts, bruises, sprains

MED: Medium injuries (would likely require hospital treatment) - Broken bone, deep cuts and lacerations, multiple small injuries

HIGH: Severe injuries (would likely require ambulance) - Potential to cause death, multiple medium injuries or any injury to the head

Cross referencing the likelihood with the severity determines the Risk

RISK / Likelihood
Severity / LOW / MED / HIGH
MED / MED / HIGH
HIGH / HIGH / HIGH

In all cases, controls are needed to reduce the Risk into a green or yellow box. For example, since any head injury is considered a HIGH severity, simply wearing a hard hat immediately reduces the severity to MED. Likewise, checking a woodland site for hanging branches before starting work reduces the likelihood of one falling and so causing harm to LOW. With these two simple controls, a Risk assessed as HIGH (Red box) has been reduced to MED (Green box). Note that a MED risk can be either green or yellow and HIGH risk can be either yellow or red – in all cases it is the colour of the box that is most important.

Any risk that remains in a red box after controls should not be undertaken by volunteers unless further training/controls can be implemented.

ACTIVITY: Woodland Management tasks (does not include chainsaw use)

WHAT IS COVERED? Tree felling, pruning, cross cutting, stacking and moving timber, log splitting

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTROLS: Work supervisor and all work party members

What is the Hazard / Who would be injured? / Nature and method of injuries / Frequency of hazard? / Severity of hazard? / ASSESSED RISK / Controls / Risk After Control
Hanging trees / branches / Work party / Branches falling to cause head and other body injuries; / MED / HIGH / HIGH / Check site before work for hanging branches;
Clear hanging branches before other tasks;
If unable to clear, mark hazard or make known to all;
Hard hats and safety glasses worn at all times in work area; / MED
Fallen trees, branches and stumps / Work party / Trip and falls causing sprains, bruises, cuts; / HIGH / LOW / MED / Check site before work and clear fallen branches from access routes;
Clear felled trees immediately;
Ensure stumps are cut off low to ground;
Only work during daylight; / LOW
Uneven, steep or slippery ground / Work Party / Trips and falls causing sprains, bruises, cuts; / HIGH / LOW / MED / Ensure extra care on slopes;
Be aware that frequently used routes can become more slippery;
Take extra care in the wet;
Ensure SITE RISK ASSESSMENT has highlighted particularly hazards areas;
All volunteers to wear suitable, sturdy footwear; / LOW
Tree felling
Clearing hung and windblown trees / Work party
Public / Trees felled onto people;
Butt end kicking up when felled;
Debris falling from crown during felling; / MED / HIGH / HIGH / All to be trained and follow proper procedure for tree felling;
Hard hats, safety glasses and Hi-Vis to be worn at all times on worksite;
Felling performed by pairs of people;
Keep at least 2x tree height distance from others when felling;
Ensure safe routes to escape from tree and move away from tree as it falls;
Do not tackle trees beyond 30cm (12in) width;
Be aware of weighting due to growth and snow;
Be aware of wind conditions;
Check tree crown for hanging debris before felling;
Be aware of rot and damage causing trees to fall prematurely; / MED
Snedding / Work party / Saw / billhook injuries;
Springing branches hitting worker; / MED / MED / MED / Only trained/confident workers to use billhooks;
Check branches for tension before removing;
Others to keep clear of tree as it is snedded;
Sned while tree still attached at stump if possible;
Ensure tree is not likely to slip/roll before snedding;
Stand opposite side of trunk from limb to be sned; / MED
Cross cutting / Work party / Saw injuries;
Rolling logs causing impact; / MED / LOW / LOW / Cross cut while tree attached to stump;
Ensure no one is down slope when cross cutting on slopes;
Stand up slope of log; / LOW
Shifting and stacking timber
Extracting timber from worksite / Work party
Public / Heavy log causing back problems when lifting and foot/leg injuries when dropped, rolled or incorrectly stacked;
Increased likelihood or severity from trips, falls and slippery/steep ground; / MED / LOW / LOW / Plan work site to minimise distance to carry logs;
Plan access routes for carrying timber to minimise slopes and other hazards;
Ensure access paths are clear of debris / fallen branches;
Ensure proper lifting procedures are followed;
Carry larger sections in pairs;
Timber stacks secured by posts or retained trees;
Stacks should be no higher than 1m;
Stacks on flat ground only; / LOW
Splitting logs / Work party / Back injuries from axe use;
Cuts from flying splinters; / LOW / MED / MED / Wear safety glasses when splitting;
Place logs on large stump or chopping block;
Ensure sound footing;
Keep area clear of others; / LOW
De-limbing, crown lifting and pruning / Work party / Saw injuries;
Injury from falling or springing branches; / LOW / HIGH / MED / Ensure hard hats and safety glasses are worn;
Check branch for tension before cutting; / LOW

ACTIVITY: Working Near Roads

WHAT IS COVERED? Working on roadsides, road verges, sites where roads will need to be frequently crossed during the work

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTROLS: Work supervisor and all work party members

What is the Hazard / Who would be injured? / Nature and method of injuries / Frequency of hazard? / Severity of hazard? / ASSESSED RISK / Controls / Risk After Control
Motor Traffic / Work party / Collision with traffic / LOW / HIGH / MED / For high speed roads, high traffic roads or on corners with limited visibility consider whether the task is suitable for volunteers;
All work party to wear Hi-Vis - must be long –sleeved on roads > 30mph;
All to be aware of road and follow pedestrian road safety advice (Stop, Look, Listen);
Consider placing Men at Work traffic signs on road edge (200 yards from work sites) if required;
Consider visibility along road from worksite;
Only work in daylight hours and plan work to avoid peak traffic times;
Plan work to minimise need to cross road;
Plan work to minimise time needed to work along road side; / MED
Cyclists / Work party, Cyclists / Collision with cyclists / LOW / HIGH / MED / Follow as per motor traffic;
Be aware that cyclists will be quieter and can appear suddenly;
Collision may also cause injury to cyclists; / MED

ACTIVITY: Working near water

WHAT IS COVERED? Any activity where work party will be within 5 m of a water body, at any time during the activity.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTROLS: Work supervisor and all work party members

What is the Hazard / Who would be injured? / Nature and method of injuries / Frequency of hazard? / Severity of hazard? / ASSESSED RISK / Controls / Risk After Control
Cold or deep still or slow flowing water / Work party / Drowning and hypothermia from immersion in water / LOW / HIGH / HIGH / Where possible, plan to undertake work near water outside of coldest months;
Check for and ensure stability of banks before working;
Avoid working on slippery or steep slopes above water;
No member of work party to work near water alone – minimum of three;
No non swimmers to work near water;
Only work during daylight;
If soaked, ensure volunteer can leave worksite to return home as soon as possible;
Consider whether working from a boat is safer option. / MED
Fast flowing water / Work party / Drowning and hypothermia from immersion;
Impact with rocks, branches, banks due to being swept by current; / LOW / HIGH / HIGH / As above
Consider whether task is suitable for volunteers if it cannot be performed without unacceptable risk – use SITE RISK ASSESSMENT / MED or HIGH

ACTIVITY: Chainsaw use (felling, cross cutting, logging)