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Faller certification will boost safety in the forests
Supporting documents
- BCFSC news release
- Nanaimo news release
- Backgrounder (PDF 39kb)
- Fact sheet (PDF 72kb)
- Health and safety accord of the B.C. forest industry (PDF 49kb)
- Profile: Al Lundgren (PDF 28kb)
- Profile: Mike McKibbin (PDF 30kb)
- Certification Q & A (PDF 34kb)
- Faller certificate (PDF 300kb)
November 4, 2004, Prince George, B.C. — Tree fallers, who routinely perform the most dangerous job in B.C.'s forests, will soon have to be certified to rigorous industry standards in order to continue to work. The newly-formed British Columbia Forest Safety Council (the Council) and the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) announced the implementation of the BC Faller Training Standard and Certification Program today in Prince George.
The Certification Program will require mandatory testing and a skills demonstration by experienced fallers. Any experienced faller must be certified by July 31, 2005; the cost of certification will rise as that date approaches. And beginning in 2005, new fallers will have to undergo a comprehensive training program in order to become certified. Those fallers who have their certifications will also be required to renew their certifications on a regular basis in order to ensure they can continue to operate safely. There are about 4,000 fallers currently operating in B.C.
"The certification of tree fallers is a long overdue recognition of the skill and professionalism required of these critically important forest workers," said BCFSC Chair and Canfor CEO Jim Shepherd. "This program will help our industry increase safety and productivity because only well-trained and certified fallers will be working in the forest."
Between 1998 and 2003 there were 26 falling deaths and more than 1,400 falling-related injuries. The number of serious injuries and fatalities to fallers in B.C. is unacceptable according to the WCB, Steelworkers-IWA, independent fallers and forest companies.
"We at the WCB are proud to have played a major role in developing and implementing the faller certification program," said Roberta Ellis, WCB Vice-President, Investigations and Review. "We believe this safety initiative will help prevent serious injury and death to fallers, and will also improve the overall health and safety of other forest industry workers."
"As a Minister now responsible for Forest Management and a former forest worker who sustained a career changing injury, I am very pleased with both the creation of the Forest Safety Council and the implementation of the Tree Faller Certification Program," said Roger Harris, Minister of State for Forestry Operations. "As an industry our goal should be that no workers get seriously hurt or killed and all workers go home safely, all the time."
The Forest Safety Council is a direct result of the Forest Safety Task Force, chaired by WCB Chair Doug Enns, which produced a report on the industry in February 2004. The task force, made up of senior representatives from large forestry employers, contractors, fallers, IWA-Canada and the WCB, found that B.C.'s forest sector requires many changes to reduce high rates of serious injury and death. Along with ensuring that the recommendations of the Forest Safety Task Force are fully implemented, the Forest Safety Council is also responsible for developing and coordinating safety strategies and programs across the industry. It represents all the forest industry organizations and the Steelworkers-IWA.
The Workers' Compensation Board is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves about two million workers and more than 173,000 employers. The WCB was borne out of a compromise forged between B.C.'s workers and employers, where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries sustained on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. The WCB is committed to a safe and healthy workplace, to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.
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Tanner Elton |
Donna Freeman |