This National Farm Safety Week 2022, Australia's forest industries have reaffirmed that workplace safety is the number one priority sector wide. From tree harvesting operations in the forest to the sawmill floor and product transport, forest industries strive for the safest working environment for all employees, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Ross Hampton said today.
National Farm Safety Week 2022's theme is 'Recipe for Averting Disaster', highlighting awareness of the potentially dangerous and hazardous working conditions the broader agriculture sector, including forest industries, that do operate in farm environments, are presented on a daily basis.
Ross Hampton said forest industries have made workplace safety the sector wide first priority for many years now and are happy to continue promoting awareness this week.
"Without the careful workplace, health and safety planning and hazard mitigation our sector works so hard at, our industries would present many dangers for employees, from operations in the forest to the sawmill floor and in product transport. Thankfully we have a sector that continues to place workplace safety at the top of the priority list, so risks are reduced.
"That said, we can always improve our awareness and safety practices, so supporting initiatives like National Farm Safety Week 2022 are so important. I encourage all forest industries operations to review their safety practices this week, to ensure that everything possible is being done to mitigate risk to safety."
AFPA's Forest Industry Safety Manager Amanda Bell said when it comes to safety, "Anything higher than zero as the number of workplace fatalities and serious injuries is unacceptable. Our sector continues to work to ensure all employees go home safe and healthy every day.
"AFPA's Work, Health, and Safety (WHS) Committee will continue to identify and deliver industry wide health, safety and wellbeing programs aimed at improving workers health and reducing incidents, noting that, safety is more than just physical safety and we need to consider the psychological safety of our workforce as well.
"I commend National Farm Safety Week 2022 and our sector's attitude to safety as the number one workplace priority," Amanda Bell concluded.
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