What forestry’s latest news means for safer fieldwork

A stronger forestry sector depends on more than new planting targets and public support. It needs competent people, reliable workforce data, sound supervision and operators who can make disciplined decisions under pressure.

Recent developments across Scotland and beyond point in that direction. The Forestry Workforce Census is gathering evidence about the people and operations behind Great Britain’s forestry work. A Scottish rewilding estate is hosting research into nature and mental health. Karen Batten is testing her forestry practice in New South Wales, while Scotland’s Finest Woods has strengthened its leadership and trustee base.

For arborists, forestry workers and chainsaw operators, these are not distant sector stories. They affect how skills are developed, how work is planned and how professional standards are defended on site.

Workforce data must lead to better site decisions

The Forestry Workforce Census, launched by Forest Research on behalf of the Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry and the Welsh Government, aims to establish the size and shape of the forestry operations workforce across Great Britain.

That evidence matters because workforce assumptions are dangerous. Contractors, self-employed operators, seasonal staff, supervisors and specialist machine crews can be missed when official figures rely on incomplete or outdated sources. A weak picture of the workforce produces weak planning: insufficient training provision, unrealistic recruitment forecasts and poor understanding of where operational risks are concentrated.

Give accurate information, not convenient information

If you receive a census request, complete it accurately and encourage relevant colleagues or business owners to do the same. Report the work your organisation actually undertakes, including contracting, harvesting, restocking, chainsaw operations, machine work and associated supervision where requested.

For businesses, the exercise is also a prompt to inspect internal records. Can you identify who is competent for each task? Are refresher dates visible? Do you know which operators hold current first-aid provision, aerial rescue competence or site-specific authorisation? Can you demonstrate how subcontractors are selected and monitored?

These questions expose gaps before an incident does. A workforce census cannot improve safety on its own, but reliable data can support better funding, more relevant courses and a clearer response to skills shortages. Participation is a professional responsibility, not administrative noise.

Competence is more than a certificate

The sector needs people who can transfer knowledge between different woodland types, weather conditions and production systems. Karen Batten’s halfway account of the Young Professional Foresters’ Exchange Programme in New South Wales shows the value of that exposure.

Working in another country does not provide a template to copy. It tests assumptions. Different species, fire regimes, terrain, machinery, legislation and operating cultures force a forester to separate fundamental principles from local habit.

That is directly relevant to chainsaw work. A competent operator should understand why a felling plan works, not merely repeat a sequence learned on a course. The same applies to hung-up trees, windblown stems, roadside work and trees affected by decay or disease. Transferable competence means assessing the actual tree, actual site and actual consequences before cutting.

Use exchange thinking on domestic jobs

You do not need an overseas placement to build this habit. After a complex job, ask:

• ▸Which assumptions shaped the plan?
• ▸What changed once the work started?
• ▸Which control prevented the greatest risk from escalating?
• ▸Where did communication slow the job, and where did it protect the crew?
• ▸What would a different team, machine or weather pattern have exposed?

Record useful answers during toolbox talks and reviews. Make them specific. “Take more care” is worthless. “Confirm the escape route remains clear after each processing cut” is an operational control.

Mentoring should work in both directions. Senior operators provide judgement and context; newer workers often identify inefficient routines and communication failures that experienced people have stopped seeing. A strong crew makes challenge normal before the saw starts.

Mental health belongs in the work plan

The research hosted by a Scottish rewilding estate, reported by Trees for Life, examines the relationship between nature and mental health. That work reinforces a point field crews already understand: outdoor work can support wellbeing, but it does not remove psychological pressure.

Isolation, long travel, production targets, unpredictable ground conditions, serious injury exposure and difficult weather all affect decision-making. Fatigue and stress narrow attention. They also increase the chance that someone will rush a routine check, ignore a changing wind or stay quiet after losing confidence.

Build practical welfare controls into the day

A welfare plan for a forestry or arboricultural crew should be as concrete as the control measures for falling timber. Set reliable check-in arrangements for lone or remote workers. Confirm emergency access and the grid reference before work begins. Keep first-aid equipment, charged phones or radios and casualty extraction plans appropriate to the site.

Supervisors should watch for behaviour changes: unusual irritability, withdrawal, repeated mistakes, missed communications or a sudden drop in pace. Do not diagnose colleagues. Ask direct questions, give them time to answer and act if they are not fit to continue safely.

Breaks also need structure. A pause beside a machine in noise, rain and fumes is not always recovery. Move away from the immediate hazard, hydrate, eat properly and reset the plan. When the job permits, spend time in a quieter natural setting rather than treating welfare as a box to tick.

A person who says, “I am not safe to continue,” has provided useful safety information. Respect it. Production can be rearranged; a serious incident cannot be undone.

Leadership shapes standards before the first cut

Scotland’s Finest Woods has appointed Nick Drainey as executive director to run its annual awards programme, following his work in public relations and marketing. The charity has also welcomed three trustees: Neil Crookston, Sam Malpass and Michael, bringing experience from woodland management, policy and practice, and related professional work. The appointments are covered by the Institute of Chartered Foresters and in its report on three new trustees.

Awards and governance may seem removed from a felling site, but leadership determines which behaviours gain recognition. If an organisation celebrates only output, crews receive a clear message: finish quickly. If it recognises planning, ecological care, training, safe innovation and workforce development, the operating culture changes.

Measure the work you want repeated

Contractors and managers should review what their own systems reward. Are supervisors praised solely for production? Do job reviews capture near misses and good interventions? Are operators given time to plan around retained trees, watercourses, public access and nesting constraints? Does procurement value competence, or does the lowest price dominate every decision?

Professional recognition should not replace legal compliance or competent training. It should reinforce them. Entering an award, nominating a colleague or sharing a well-run project can give good practice visibility and help attract people to the sector.

The same principle applies on a small site. Thank the operator who stops a job because the wind has changed. Recognise the ground worker who improves exclusion-zone discipline. Credit the apprentice who asks the question that prevents a bad assumption. Standards become durable when crews see that sound decisions carry status.

Turn the news into field action

Use these developments as prompts for the next planning meeting. Check whether your workforce records are accurate and whether census information can be supplied. Audit competence by task rather than by job title. Review lone-working and welfare arrangements. Ask what your business currently rewards, then change any measure that pushes people towards unsafe speed.

Finally, share learning beyond your own crew. Forestry improves when operators compare methods, challenge inherited habits and make good practice visible. The next advance may come from a census, a rewilding research project, an overseas exchange or a woodland award. It becomes valuable only when it changes what happens beside the tree.