The Ministry of Forests and Range today released a report entitled "Worker Safety Impacts Associated with Legislation, Policy, Planning and Implementation of Forest Harvesting Activities in British Columbia."

The report analyzes a survey of 770 forest planners, truckers and loggers about the effects of government policies on safety practices associated with logging.

According to the report, existing policies and regulation do not appear to create any direct barriers to safety. The report also recommends that more awareness and communication will lead to a more consistent application of these policies.

The ministry will use the report's recommendations in developing a comprehensive safety action plan. The plan will be designed to improve ongoing forest safety efforts. The plan will consider the report's recommendations to adopt new approaches such as annual forums to share safety information among government, professional bodies and industry associations, as well as regular pre-harvest meetings between planners, supervisors, and loggers.

Analysis and surveying was conducted by the ministry's Forest and Range Evaluation Program (FREP), which is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of British Columbia's results-based Forest and Range Practices Act and Regulations.

The full report and summary report are available online at:
www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/frep/index.htm