Forestry has long been regarded as the most accident prone industry in Sweden, and it's true to say that there are significant elements of risk in forestry work. But through an ambitious working environment programme, the industry has generally succeeded in reducing occupational injuries and incidents.
Every year both serious and fatal accidents occur in connection with forestry work. The worst affected are private owners working in their own forests, but the employees of the big forestry companies are also prone.
For foresters working alone in remote areas, even a minor incident, such as a simple trip and fall, can have serious consequences.
Tools that address risks
Sveaskog's working environment organisation constantly strives to improve the working environment and eliminate the risk of accidents. Safety committees, safety inspections and safety representatives are the tools we use to systematically identify workplace risks and then remedy them as quickly as possible.
To gain an overview and frequency information on different types of injury, we have taken a new approach and developed a web-based system for reporting incidents and accidents.
"It is important to learn from the incidents and accidents and it is also important that everybody working in the forest learns about how to reduce the risks," says Anders Johansson, who is responsible for health and safety aspects at Sveaskog.
Improved safety in the field
Sveaskog has very few people working with manual forestry these days, but there are many field personnel who work alone and many machine teams working with felling and the transportation of timber.
In order to improve safety in the field, an increasing number of Sveaskog's field planners have been provided with emergency transmitters based on GPS technology and signal coloured vests to make it easier to locate them should the need arise.
To reduce the number of accidents in machine teams, personnel are being made aware of the situations constituting the greatest risks, such as repair and maintenance work when crushing injuries and falls can easily occur.
Accidents on forest roads
There is also a high risk of traffic accidents occurring on the way to and from the workplace. This is largely due to the long distances, narrow roads, poor road conditions and often, darkness.
"We have unfortunately had our fair share of road accident injury," says Anders Johansson, "but this is an element of risk that is difficult to guard against."
Keeping the flame burning in the area of working environment is a high priority for Anders Johansson. Committed personnel out in the organisation are an important guarantee to ensure a reduction in the number of accidents.
– "It is also important not to complicate the safety work," he says. "It must be as practical and straight forward as possible. That's when you get the best results."