Forest Operations > Conduct Skidder Operations > Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) Requirements

Safe working Requirements

Personal Mental and Physical Condition

• Avoid operating the Skidder with serious personal issues.
• Don’t operate under the influence of drugs, including prescription medication or alcohol.
• Don’t operate with injuries that will be aggravated.
• Always be aware of your fatigue levels.

Operate Safely and Correctly.

The machine should only be operated to:

• Manufacturer specifications;
• Site Occupational, Health & Safety requirements, (OH&S);
• Work place policies and procedures.

Reporting of Accidents Faults and Hazards

• Any major accidents or incident have to be recorded and reported immediately.
• Faults and hazards with machinery, equipment and tasks should be recorded and reported to the appropriate personnel as per workplace requirements.

Documentation and Authorisation

• The machine owner needs to know how specific machinery is functioning, and how the logging operation as a unit is performing.
• Daily or weekly work should be documented or recorded.

The following are examples of items that need recording:

• Quantity of fuel, oil and grease consumed;
• Spares parts used;
• Faults and down-time issues;
• Any incidents or accidents recorded as per workplace requirements;
• Authorisation may be in the form of the coupe plan e.g. (Site cutting requirements and exclusion zones).

Incident reporting

Incidents resulting in injury, near misses, or the potential for serious injury must be reported and recorded as soon as possible but no longer than 24 hours after the event.

Incident report forms are usually kept in the main work vehicle or maintenance vehicle on the worksite, or at the base office.

Where incidents are required to be reported, there is also the requirement to preserve the scene of the incident until investigations are complete.

State safety authorities may be notified to investigate the incident.

For more information refer to AS/NZS 1743 Safety in Forest Operations (Harvesting & Haulage) 5.11.

Fig. 19 It was a lucky escape for the operator here

Potential falling objects are identified

While you are in the machine, you are protected from falling objects by the falling object protection structure. (FOPS built into the skidder cabin).

However, when a person leaves the safety of a cabin they expose themselves to falling object hazards, e.g.

• Widow maker – (A branch or limb falling from a tree unexpectedly);
• Pine cones;
• Pieces of timber from the top of a load;
• Maintenance tools.

Operators should always wear the required Australian Standard hard hat when leaving a machine or vehicle.

For example:

The broken of branch in the picture below (known as a widow maker), and can cause serious injury or even death if it hits you.

Fig 20 Always check for overhead hazards in the forest