Health and safety for forestry operations

 

Summary

This programme area investigates ergonomic and health & safety issues for a wide range of forestry operations. Issues investigated include:

• Ground preparation excavator bucket design
• Whole body vibration in harvesting machinery
• Ergonomic working practices for machine operators
• Pesticide stores
• Health management for machine operators.

The Establishment and maintenance programme performs related work on operator protection for the application of pesticides.

Research objectives

Each project has specific and detailed  objectives. As an overview:

• Support the riddle bucket in a national ideas scheme and produce an article describing the bucket
• Assist the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in measuring whole body vibration levels in forestry machinery
• Take part in an European Union (EU) project, ErgoWood, examining ergonomic and health & safety standards and practices in forest machines and developing guidance for the management of operator health
• Investigate pesticide storage and handling systems and describe best practice
• Investigate and describe systems and training to improve the health and working conditions for machine operators.

Funders and partners

This research is funded primarily by the Forestry Commission Safety and ergonomics programme.

EU partners:

• Sweden: SLU and NIWL
• France: AFOCEL and FNETARF
• Norway: SkogForsk
• Germany: KWF, University of Freiburg and QfF
• Poland: SGGW
• UK: FCA.

Other partners:

UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

Technical Development also works in partnership with contractors, machine suppliers.
 
Forestry Commission policy

One objective of the Forestry Commission is to support the Government's policy of sustainable forest management.

A  sustainable system should not damage an operator’s health.  Work in this programme area will improve working  environments and health management systems for operators.

Annual ideas competition winner

The riddle bucket won the Health and Safety section of the national Annual Ideas Competition run by ideasUK.

Status

The majority of the work within this programme area is ongoing with continual review and development:

• The report on the riddle bucket has been published 2004
• Initial work on vibration measurememts to be completed by April 2005
• The ErgoWood project is due for completion by December 2005
• Internal reports on other projects to be completed by April 2005 with the possibility of publication of relevant results in 2005/2006.

Contacts

Riddle bucket: Steve Morgan
Pesticides: Bill J Jones
Whole body vibration: Colin Saunders

Forest Research
Technical Development
Ae Village
Dumfries
Scotland DG1 1QB

Tel: 01387 860264
Fax: 01387 860386
Email: tdb.ae@forestry.gsi.gov.uk