Work Health and Safety Policy

Purpose. This policy states Timberline's commitment to the health and safety of every worker, contractor and visitor across forest, mill and yard operations and sets out who is responsible for what.

1.Purpose and scope

Timberline will provide a workplace where no one is harmed by the work they do. This policy applies to every site, vehicle, coupe and customer delivery, and to employees, contractors, labour hire workers and visitors. It is the parent document for all safety procedures in the integrated management system.

2.Policy statement

Forestry and sawmilling are high-risk industries. Timberline will identify hazards before work starts, control them using the hierarchy of controls, and verify that the controls are working. Production targets must never override a safety control. Every worker has the authority and the duty to stop a task that is not safe and to report it without fear of blame.

• Eliminate the hazard where practicable
• Substitute, isolate or engineer out the risk
• Use administrative controls such as exclusion zones and procedures
• Use personal protective equipment as the last line of defence

3.Responsibilities

The Chief Executive Officer is accountable for this policy and for resourcing it. Department managers and supervisors must apply the procedures in their area, complete pre-starts and toolbox talks, and act on hazards reported to them. Workers must follow procedures, wear the required personal protective equipment, hold the required licence or verification of competency for any machine they operate, and report incidents, near misses and hazards within the shift.

4.Key forest and mill hazards

The hazards that cause the most serious harm in this industry are known and must be treated as such. Supervisors will address these hazards in every harvest plan, pre-start and job safety analysis.

• Falling and rolling trees, limbs and logs
• Mobile plant and log trucks moving in landings and yards
• Chainsaw kickback and cuts
• Entanglement in saws, chains and conveyors
• Bushfire and heat stress
• Fatigue, remote work and vehicle travel on unsealed roads
• Wood dust, noise and vibration

5.Consultation

Timberline will consult workers on matters that affect their safety through site safety committees, toolbox talks and the incident review process. Health and safety representatives elected for each site will be given the time and training they need to carry out their role.

6.Incident reporting and investigation

All injuries, near misses, hazards and property damage must be recorded in the Safety and Environment Register before the end of the shift. Notifiable incidents must be reported to the state regulator by the SHE and Certification Manager without delay and the scene must be preserved. Investigations will focus on causes and controls, not on blame.

7.Review

This policy will be reviewed every year, after any notifiable incident and after any change in legislation or certification requirements. The SHE and Certification Manager will present the review to the leadership team and record the outcome in the document register.