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201 EE 9 Y P EA IN LANR SI NE DE R
November 2018 | $7.20
ISSN 1176-0397
A R E T C X -5 A h s a d E P chi a t i H AN H OF wnehweel loader S A D
51 years without lost time injury!
View from the top - tree climbing
iron test
R T X E AN F O H S DA : Story & Photos
John Ellegard
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A R T E C A P OF The first forestry-spec dash-5 Hitachi wheel loader deposits a big bundle of logs at the Stokes Logging skid site.
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Tall Timber
Marian and Tom Valintine with one of their older Hitachi loaders.
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A young Tom Valintine working for his father’s company in 1971.
Story: Rob Maetzig
Timber deep rooted in Tom Valintine’s dna A
T A TIME OF HEAVY MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE PERCEIVED hazards of working in the forestry industry, veteran Taranaki logger Tom Valintine is a shining light – he’s gone 51 years in the game without suffering a single lost-time injury. “It’s important to keep what I call a wide eye on things,” the Inglewood man explains of his impressive safety record. “After a while you develop a sort of sixth sense. So whenever there’s a situation that doesn’t feel quite right, I’ll stop and roll a smoke and think about it.” This simple method of keeping himself and his staff safe has worked numerous times, says Tom, who owns Valintine Logging with his wife, Marian.
“One time I was tracking with a bulldozer, but I didn’t feel comfortable about it and backed up. Then as I was figuring out what to do, the ground in front of me slipped into the valley below. “Another time, for some reason I wasn’t happy about the look of a big Radiata we were going to fell, so we stepped away to consider what to do. Suddenly a great big limb came crashing down where we had been standing. “I don’t know why I didn’t feel comfortable about these situations. I just did. But we needed to step back and think about it – and we were right.” This simple method of ensuring workplace safety remains just as important today, despite an increasing amount of paperwork
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