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Log Processor Excellence - Murray Smith

Forestry Awards Winner Snapshot Being in the private woodlot and not in the corporate forest sector, a contractor doesn’t often have access to the resources like constant auditing. But when you excel with technology and IT like operator Murray Smith – Burson Logging Limited, then that’s a huge advantage. Murray is the Log Processor Excellence winner at the 2022 Top of The South Forestry Awards.  Having been in the industry for many years Murray has adapted to the introduction of mecha...

Transformation Plan with Expectations

Te Uru Rākau hosted an industry-wide workshop on 30 October 2020. The purpose of the workshop was to set the foundation for a successful collaboration between industry and government to support the development of the Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan (ITP); and identify opportunities and barriers to lifting productivity across the supply chain across short-, medium-, and long-term horizons. The objective of the workshop was to identify the key challenges facing the ...

At the top of his game - Ian Williamson

Forestry Awards Winner SnapshotWith experience in both Cable and Ground Based Logging, Ian Williamson at Moutere Management Limited is the winner of the 2022 Harvesting Excellence Award at the Top of The South Forestry Awards.  A great work ethic, extensive harvesting experience, skilled in Health and Safety management, and having the patience and ability to teach people is a credit to Ian’s high calibre of achievement.  Complimented with a natural ability to relate to all different ...

Well gelled and experienced – Bryant Logging

Forestry Awards Winner Snapshot Bryant Logging’s 730 Hauler Crew is known to tackle the hard jobs that are more complex, with a lot more variables to disrupt consistency. Named Crew of the Year at the 2022 Top of the South Forestry Awards, Bryant Logging 730 Hauler Crew are always looking after their teammates and are a well organised, professional crew. They boast a great age range in the crew, from one that started in the industry only a couple of months ago to a staff member who has over ...

Leading the Way - Grant Puklowski, Puklowski Silviculture

Forestry Awards Winner SnapshotHaving built a very successful silviculture business, Grant Puklowski at Puklowski Silviculture exemplifies a business operator who genuinely cares about his team and the work they achieve. Grant is passionate about the ongoing success and future of the forest industry and has been recognised as the recipient of the Excellence in Forestry Award and the Skilled Professional of the Year Award at the Top of the South Forestry Awards 2022. An example of excellence in ...

New campaign launches to attract more people into forestry careers

A new recruitment campaign called ‘Find Your Fit In Forestry’ aims to draw attention to the varied career opportunities available in the growing forestry industry. A sector-wide initiative, the campaign has just launched and hopes to attract more young people into the industry and fill people shortages being felt throughout the sector. Designed to demonstrate the huge range of roles and opportunities available in forestry, the mostly digital ‘Find Your Fit In Forestry’ campaign is primar...

FICA E-news August 2022

Well I have to say the industry is starting to feel a bit like the All Blacks, despite knowing what the issues are, there does not seem to be any change in the behaviour and despite knowing this, are doing the same "S#*T and getting the same results!Now while we go through the period of typical go slow in China due to the summer temperatures, another month flows by. There are plenty of trees out there or coming on to harvest. How do we get that natural balance to keep our crews working, trucks f...

My ACC for Business

MyACC for Business puts you in control of your ACC account. ACC knows that when you’re self-employed, there’s a lot to stay on top of, MyACC for Business can help. It’s ACC's online platform that puts you in control of your information, so you know what to expect and get invoiced correctly.  With MyACC for Business, you can check and update:  Your Classification Unit  Your employment status Change your communication preference to email to receive a d...

Where are we at with ROVE?

It was March 2019 when sectors within the Primary Industries gathered to start discussions on the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) and now over two years later, albeit with COVID getting in the way a bit, we are still working our way through what this new educational system looks like.We looked back at parts of that journey at a recent Forest ROVE Advisory Group (FRAG) meeting. We originally set out to establish a Forestry Skills Body with a governance group and an administration structure....

FICA E-news July 2022

Yes over the half way mark for 2022 and the outlook ahead is a little foggy! We can positively look back a couple of weeks to reflect on the engagement with many of you face to face at the Safetree and FICA Conferences in Queenstown. It was truly a milestone that demonstrated that the industry has missed the personal gatherings, the chance to network and to travel too. Despite some coming home with more than the photographs, I believe no one regretted taking a day or two to finally feel the...

Safeguard

I applaud the Acting National Director of the Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC), John Lowe, for saying it as it is, as he took the opportunity to put pen to paper. I was so impressed to hear it from FISC that I felt it was important to copy to the industry. FICA will continue to make sure the challenges of the industry are communicated clearly and others are made aware of supply chain pressures. It’s important that we get into a room together and have these courageous conversations. John�...

Forestry centre stage at Good Employer Awards

Tāne Mahuta NZ Ltd have made the forestry industry proud, taking out the Māori Agribusiness Award at the 2022 Primary Industries Good Employer Awards last night. The Bay of Plenty based contractors were also finalists for the Supreme Award. Hosted by MPI, the Good Employer Awards are a time to celebrate their passion towards supporting employees by putting their health, welfare and wellbeing first. Tāne Mahuta NZ Ltd directors Wini and Simon Geddes were in attendance to accept their award fo...

New $25k micro-innovation challenge coming to contractors

A new micro innovation challenge, endorsed by FICA and funded by Worksafe, trials a new process and fund to support micro innovation among forestry crews.  The three winning innovators will receive up to $25,000 each to develop their concept into a prototype.  The Challenge is focussed on finding technical solutions to problems forestry workers face on a daily basis.  Crews will be able to register their innovations online and can then engage with other innovators online and respo...

Mechanisation a Reality like “The Jetsons”

Looking back to when I first came on board this role, I found an article written in October 2018 that started off with me saying: “If mobile phones are anything to go by, technology advancement for machinery used in our forests is something that I think will go crazy over the next few years”. Early adopters of technology  I then went on to interview a couple of contractors who quoted they were passionate about mechanisation, and as early adopters they had been using it for the last 15 y...

Insurance Update - Forestry High Risk

The insurance industry is currently undergoing a number of changes with a many insurers moving away from occupations they consider to be high risk, particularly when it comes to liability policies.  You may be experiencing issues where an insurer which has provided cover for your business over many years has decided they no longer have an appetite for forestry risks, leaving you high and dry.  As our Strategic Partner, Sweeney Townsend Insurance Brokers can offer you peace of mind, exp...

FICA Enews June 2022

Firstly congrats to the Queen, her 70th Jubilee what a milestone and I hope you all have come off the back of a good long weekend.Next, thanks to all the contractors that signed up to FICA for 2022, we really appreciated the opportunity to be able to offer this 15% discount to members this year. In light of the challenging year we have had, we wanted to recognise this and give something back....

Dedicated Damon

As Woodlot Harvestings newest apprentice, Damon Zillwood is already becoming a hugely valuable member of his crew. Previously working as a diesel mechanic assistant, Woodlot Harvestings Managers were able to employ Damon via the FICA MSD Harvesting Subsidy and its already paying great dividends. As a lover of the outdoors, working in forestry seemed like a natural fit for apprentice Damon Zillwood. “I love hunting and the outdoors, so forestry is the ideal place for me to be,” says Damon. ...

Outdoor opportunities for Callum

Working as a machine operator for Roxburgh Contracting under the FICA MSD Harvesting Subsidy, school-leaver Callum Maze is loving working in logging and working outdoors. While participating in the Gateway programme as a senior in secondary school, Callum Maze enjoyed working on the processor simulator and expressed an interest in working in forestry. His existing forestry connections made it easy for him to pathway from school to work, taking up a role with his contact Lawson Roxburgh who owns...

Repost - How NZ could become a world leader in decarbonisation using forestry and geothermal technology

Energy is the double-edged sword at the root of the climate crisis. Cheap energy has improved lives and underpinned massive economic growth. But because most of it comes from burning hydrocarbon fuels, we’re now left with a legacy of high atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and an emissions-intensive economy.But what if we could flip the energy-emissions relationship on its head? We would need a technology that both generates electricity and removes CO2 from the atmosphere.The good news is this t...

Right or Wrong – That is the Question?

Access to workers by unions has not always generated the best of relationships between employers and the agency. There have been underlying perceptions that by letting the union come into their business premises the priority of the visit is to recruit new members. There is truth to this and nevertheless, union representatives have the right to access the employer’s workplace so long as certain conditions are met. Consideration of rights In our industry we need to consider the contractor’s ri...

Expert QC Jessie-Lee

After finishing school and doing a stint at a local apple packhouse in the Hawkes Bay, Jessie-Lee Bush was approached by her Mum’s boss at DG Glenn Logging (DGL) to work there as a QC (Quality Controller) under the FICA MSD Harvesting Subsidy. Eligible for the FICA MSD Harvesting Subsidy as a new “Kiwi local” recruit to forestry, Jessie-Lee was offered a job and thought she’d give it a try, joining the team in September 2021. DGL employs more than 150 staff around the Hawkes Bay area, w...

MyACC for Business – view Work Related Claims Reports Online

If you have any employees that have a work-related injury, you can view and download the claims report online now in MyACC for Business If you’re not registered yet, visit MyACC for Business and sign up using your ACC number or IR number, and email address - it’s quick and easy!With MyACC for Business you can also:Go paperless – set preferences to receive your invoice by email. Update your liable earnings to ensure you get the most accurate invoice possibleUse live...

Understanding Risk

This month I approached Safetree contributors about the up-and-coming Risk Workshops that are going to start up again around the country and asked for an overview on what one might expect going along to them. So, this what they told me (relax, I promise you this isn’t another Health & Safety article). Risk, Health, Safety have become three words almost guaranteed to turn off an audience and stop people from reading any further. So, over the last five years we have been trying to get peopl...

Fuel Prices - Information from Z Energy

Over recent weeks we have seen significant movements in the global price of refined fuels driven by international events such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  You will have seen these global price movements flowing through to New Zealand and the impact of these increases at the pump.Given the sensitivity of these price movements, we wanted to provide some additional context as to the contributing factors given the swings in diesel and petrol pricing is higher than what may normally be seen...

Press Release: ​State of the Industry Update

This is a joint press release between FICA, Safetree and NZFOA.  As we have all seen in the media and through our industry communication platforms in last 10 days, there is a multitude of factors all compounding the export market now perfect storm has arisen and this is putting considerable pressure on the domestic market and, particularly, harvest contracts.  We would traditionally have seen a downturn at the end of February each year with the impact of the Chinese New Year. What is h...