Forest incident: Worker hit by ponga

PHOTO/TrustPower TECT Rescue Helicopter

The forestry worker seriously injured near Whakatane this morning is in a stable condition in Tauranga Hospital.

The man was injured late this morning near Tawera, at Ruatoki near Whakatane, and has been airlifted by rescue helicopter to hospital.

A Worksafe spokesman said the victim was a 39-year-old man and that their investigators were on their way to the site.

A statement from the TrustPower TECT Rescue Helicopter service said the chopper was dispatched to Ruatoki about 10.30am after a tree feller was hit by a ponga that was dislodged by a tree he was felling.

It said the victim was a 39-year-old man, who received shoulder, back and leg injuries.

He was treated at the scene by St John paramedics before being flown to hospital.

The incident followed the death of another forestry worker this morning in the Wairau Valley in Marlborough this morning.

The incident was reported just before 10am, and the man was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later by ambulance staff.

Ten workers died in forestry accidents around New Zealand last year, and the high death toll has drawn criticism from interest groups about health and safety practices.

At the end of last year, the Council of Trade Unions renewed calls for greater Government regulation of the forestry industry.

WorkSafe New Zealand Health and Safety Operations general manager Ona de Rooy said the death and a serious injury in the forest sector was deeply saddening.

Ms de Rooy said after delivering an appalling safety record in 2013, to have a death just 16 days into the new year demonstrates just how much this sector needs to change its behaviour.

"We have identified an alarming rate of safety non-compliance amongst cable logging operators - nearly half of the 162 we've visited weren't operating in compliance with the industry code and we had to take 203 enforcement actions to force those operators to comply. We had to shut 15 of them down they were so dangerous," Ms de Rooy said.

"We are so concerned at this level of unsafe practice that we have sought meetings with individual forest owners to make very clear to them that they have significant responsibilities under the Health and Safety in Employment.

"We will want to see their safety plans for the contractor crews demonstrate active management of safety standards. If they are deficient, we will be holding them to account.

"The issues that are becoming apparent lead us to conclude that there are deeply ingrained systemic issues in this industry," Ms de Rooy said.

"The regulator cannot be solely responsible for making sure this industry is safe. We will use every power available to us to push this industry to safer operations."

But until every forest owner, every contractor, their national associations, worker representatives and the workers themselves took personal responsibility for operating safely, the culture in this industry would not change and more families and communities would be grieving over a dead or injured forestry worker Ms de Rooy said.