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

Safe Work Areas

In forest operations the risk of death or serious injury greatly increases when operators are not separated into safe work areas.

Separating activities that could create risks for others is the most basic safety measure that everyone must understand.

A work area is the area of a coupe in which individual operators work in. This work area is normally dominated by one activity such as a Feller Buncher, Harvester or Forwarder etc.

However, the nature of forest operations means there will often be several operators working in nearby work areas.

The greatest potential danger to a person working in forest operations is being struck by logs, trees, or pieces of machinery as a result of activities in another work area.

A work area is made into a safe work area by separating work activities.

Separation can be achieved in a number of ways:

• Physical barriers
• Work area
• Distance
• Time
• Entry

Physical barriers

An example of a physical barrier would be a machine canopy or a parked (not operating) machine placed between ground-based workers and other working machines.

Work area

Do not enter anyone else’s work area without following the workplace policies & procedure set out for the specific activities. An example of a designated safe work area is: for truck drivers when being loaded and tying down his/her load

Distance

When you are returning to the felling area, remember that the common rule of separation distance is two dominant tree lengths of any trees being felled or snigged. If you have to enter or pass the felling area inside this distance,  you need to get the operators attention before proceeding.

Time

Risks are reduced by scheduling different parts of the process at different times. For example, log landing construction is not under taken while trees are being felled in the same area.

Entry

Entry in to another workers’ or operators’ safe work area only by agreed protocols. Remember that people working on the ground always have right of way.