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By David McLean - Region 3 Field Representative

At Forestry Mutual, while one of our goals is to keep the cost of workers’ compensation claims low, our primary goal for our members and their employees is preventing injuries and fatalities from occurring at all. We sincerely strive for every policyholder and employee to return home each day in the same condition as when they left home that morning.

With that goal in mind, Forestry Mutual has always been a strong supporter of safety training efforts. While we have often supported other organizations with their training efforts, direct training from the Forestry Mutual staff has been and will continue to be our leading method of educating others on safe work methods and injury prevention. Over the past 50 years, our staff has developed an abundance of safety handouts, classroom training, presentations, and videos. We have conducted numerous training events directly with our policyholders as well as through cooperation with other associations in the forestry industry. All of this training has certainly paid off over the years in terms of reduced injuries. However, while we have seen good progress in reducing the number of claims, the costs of all claims have risen dramatically. We at Forestry Mutual know that continuing to do the same thing will produce the same result – and we therefore recognized a need to do something different to make an even more substantial impact in keeping our policyholders and their employees safe.

In the fall of 2018, we developed our Training Video Committee (TVC) to take the “next step” in enhancing our training program. The goal of this committee was to create short videos that were impactful – they needed to be “on target” with our audience. The TVC began with 5 members of our staff and eventually grew to 7 members as we realized the challenge, while well defined, was actually a major undertaking and would take

considerable effort. We also wanted this project to be ongoing and continue to develop training videos in the future.

The results of all the planning and effort were first produced slightly less than a year later, in the fall of 2019. Four videos were produced that addressed current-day issues by telling authentic stories of incidents that occurred among our policyholders. Topics covered include Lock Out / Tag Out and proper felling techniques. These videos range from 3 minutes to 10 minutes long. They all tell real-life stories through reproducing the actual event and the lessons learned from others’ mistakes. The first four videos were so well-received by our Board of Directors and our policyholders that the TVC was challenged to produce additional videos covering more current-day topics. As a result, 3 additional videos were produced in 2020 that cover issues such as trailer landing gear hazards, truck accidents, three points of contact, and proper load securing. As with most projects, the results get better and better! Again, this next round of videos ranges from 3 – 10 minutes and are true stories of actual injuries and lessons learned.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

Our next round of videos is still under development. As with previous videos, our goal is to address the hottest safety issues that our members are facing. Safe driving is one such topic that we will be addressing in the near future, along with other current challenges. Forestry Mutual is proud of the results of our TVC Committee. We strongly believe their work will continue to enhance our training program through these reproductions of real-life events. We appreciate the time and effort of these committee members, who clearly demonstrate the commitment of Forestry Mutual to provide a safer work environment for our policyholders and their employees through training and education.

We encourage all of our members to contact their Forestry Mutual Field Representative to view any or all of these videos. Our staff will be more than happy to show these videos to you, and your employees and hopefully make your operation safer today and in the future!

VIDEOS AVAILABLE FOR TRAINING:

- Felling Fatality

- Cutterman’s Mistake

- Chipper Fatality

- Handrail Fatality

- A Bad Day for Goodsons All Terrain

- Morning Coffee

– Driver Issues

- Landing Gear