Loggers receive recognition

Waimarino Bulletin, Issue 7, 2 September 1988, Page 25

Loggers receive recognition

Reducing the number of injuries and increasing productivity in the logging business is the aim of the New Zealand Logger's Certificate.

Last week seven Karioi Forest loggers received logger's certificates, the first to have

done so since the formation of the new forestry company, Timberlands. Logging supervisor Keith Wood told the Bulletin that the safest way to work in logging is the most efficient way, and that the certification programme was designed to make one of the most dangerous New Zealand occupations less so. Now, the loggers have a full time trainer, Robert Taitimu, to instruct workers in the best ways to perform

the various tasks involved, and Brian Vincent, a Logging and Forest Training Board

assessor who visits Karioi to check on their progress. According to the certificate information booklet, in the past logging training was "left pretty much to the 'quick' learning from the 'lucky"'. The certification system aims to identify desirable levels o f skill, develop programmes to provide training for the various skill levels, develop assessment standards and a means of recognizing the levels of

skill and experience attained. Mr Wood said while the certificates were not mandatory to work in forestry, they may give a logger an advantage in gaining employment in the future.

He said the full certification programme covers five different aspects, each with its own experience level. The top level certificate, Senior Logger, sees applicants having spent at least 950 working in a logging operation and having gained the previous four logger's certificates. Mr Wood said the certification programme covered a similar

length of time to a trade certificate. He said the secondary reason for the certificates, recognition, was important. He said many people did not realize the level of skill needed to be a

good logger, that many people thought felling a tree was a simple operation. Rotorua based logging assessor Brian Vincent's job is to check on the skill level of those applying for certificates, but he is also involved in setting up a network of assessors. This involves recruiting people like Robert Taitimu as trainers and Keith Wood, who is soon to become an assessor.