Forestry Sector Action Plan 2010-13
Appendix 4 - Impact on the sector
FOA estimates that contractors represent over 95% of the accidents and fatality notifications they have recorded in the past year. These fatalities and accidents impact on the productivity and profitability of the business, the employee, their families and community, as well as the forestry sector as a whole. Public perceptions can also impact on the sector's ability to attract and retain staff, which may be a contributing factor to the high rates of fatality and injury.
Between 2006 and 2010 the IRIS database recorded 1650 injuries, an average of 330 per year. Of these, 905 were injuries that resulted in time taken off work (including fatalities) and 745 required medical treatment (medical treatment injury - MTI).
Analysis of the sector's lost time injury (LTI) data from 2005 - 2010 has identified tree felling, breaking out and skid work as the three main contributors to lost time injury (see figure 9).
Figure 9[35]
Figure 9: Accidents resulting in lost time injuries 2005–2010
Lost time injury rates between 2006 and 2008 were relatively stable with approximately 16 LTIs per million hours worked. While total injury rates also remained stable the severity of injuries increased from an average of around 10 days to 16 days lost per injury (see figure 10).
905 lost time injuries at an average of 16 lost days per injury is a total of 14,480 days (an equivalent of nearly 40 years) lost between 2006 and 2010. This is unacceptably high and unsustainable for the sector.
Figure 10[36]
Figure 10: Lost time, total injury and severity rates 2006–2008
The severity of accidents not only impacts on the number of days off per injury, but the cost of treatment (see table 5). This has a direct impact on ACC levies.
| Year (July to June) | Number of entitlement claims | Costs (million $) |
|---|---|---|
| 2006/07 | 329 | $1,847.824 |
| 2007/8 | 366 | $2,551.376 |
| 2008/9 | 336 | $2,752.922 |
| 2009/10 | 318 | $2,363.419 |
| 2010/11 (to January 2011) | 173 |
From July 2009 to June 2010 ACC received 318 entitlement claims from the forestry sector. These claims cost over $2.3 million. For the year to January 2011 there have been 173 injury claims. This is 23 less than the same time last year and on track for less than 300 injuries per annum.
Footnotes
[35] The NZ Forest Owners Association (Source IRIS data 2005-2010)
[36] The NZ Forest Owners Association Strategic Safety Plan (page 11)
