Forests: Working Conditions
(asked on 18th January 2021) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory number of Forestry England site visits to (a) publicly managed and (b) privately managed UK forests to monitor workers’ conditions and ensure sites are PPE-compliant.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibility for the regulation of health and safety law for forestry work in Great Britain (GB). HSE achieves this through a blend of activities, including work with stakeholders, targeted communications, specific guidance and, where appropriate, site visits to maximise impact.
Key to HSE’s influence with forestry stakeholders is work with and support for the Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA). FISA is an organisation comprised of leading organisations within the forestry industry who have made a commitment to raise the standard of health safety and welfare in the forestry workplace[1]. Forestry England are a member of FISA. The work by FISA and HSE covers the provision and use of the correct equipment for workers, including PPE.
Throughout 2020, HSE continued to work with stakeholders within the forestry industry to ensure health and safety standards were met on site.
HSE is not aware of any assessments about introducing statutory Forestry England visits to forestry worksites to monitor conditions for workers. Forestry England do not have a statutory role to monitor compliance but will visit sites in their control as part of their normal site management arrangements.