The forestry sector is one of WorkSafe’s four priority sectors due to the high incidence of injuries and fatalities. WorkSafe has had a dedicated Forestry Programme since 2010. The programme requested that Research and Evaluation carry out formative research to provide evidence to inform a review of the current focus and the development of future initiatives.
The research employed a mixed-method approach which involved an analysis of SWIFT data to track injuries and fatalities in the sector since 2010 an analysis of attitudes and behaviours of workers and employers in forestry taken from the Health and Safety, Attitudes and Behaviours Survey (WorkSafe NZ) and the collection and analysis of primary qualitative data across five regions nationally.
The qualitative research involved face-to-face interviews with: managers of corporate forests, contractors working in corporate forests, and focus groups with crews. In addition, we interviewed owners of small-scale forests, contractors working in small-scale forestry and held focus groups with their crews. There were also face-to-face interviews with WorkSafe inspectors and assessment managers working in five regions.