http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.fica.org.nz en-us Sun, 08 Mar 2026 04:37:48 +1300 Rocketspark http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/160360/health-and-safety-amendment-bill-2026/ The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill (Government Bill 244–1) has just been released. The Bill is yet to go through its first reading in parliament and if passed it goes to a select committee where it will be open for public submissions and then back to parliament, so a bit of water to go under the bridge yet and will have to opportunity to have our say. On the face of it what is being proposed should be of benefit to Forestry contractors.  The newly released Bill aims to streamlin... Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:34:07 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post160360 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/160359/reduce-costs-with-n3/ FICA is committed to supporting its Members' success, including helping businesses keep their operating costs down. That’s why FICA has partnered with n3 to give Members access to great discounts at 45+ leading New Zealand Suppliers.As part of your FICA Membership, your n3 Membership fee is covered in full. That means it’s completely free for your business and your employees to join and start saving.As part of the member satisfaction survey late last year, we asked questions regarding N... Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:27:58 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post160359 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/160358/fica-innovation-group--calling-for-nominations/ To strengthen FICA’s role in industry innovation, a new Innovation Sub‑Committee is being formed.The goal is to submit up to five funding proposals annually to the FGLT/FGR process. Nominations are now open to members, associates, and sponsors. Please contact Rowan (0274) 712 789 to talk about this opportunity.... Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:27:00 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post160358 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/160357/forest-growers-levy-trust-annual-work-programme/ The 2026 Work programme funded by the Forest Growers Levy Trust has been released. The Trust received nearly $11 million in funding requests, exceeding the $8.68 million levy budget available for the 2026 work programme.... Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:24:55 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post160357 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/160356/nz-farm-forestry-association-conference/ FICA, the Forest Industry Safety Council and WorkSafe will be presenting at the NZ Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA) conference on 21 April at 1PM. The presentation will cover the new Forestry ACOP and the H&S best practice guide for small Forest Owners. The changes came into effect September 2025 and will have implications on small forest owners as persons in charge of a business undertaking (PCBU). The presentation will explain what the owner’s obligations are and how NZFF... Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:23:36 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post160356 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/160354/fica-e-newsletter--february-2026/ Welcome to FICA’s first newsletter of the year. This month, we reflect on the challenges we’ve faced and look ahead to what’s coming. Recent weather events have significantly impacted parts of New Zealand, including my own hometown of Tauranga. Our thoughts are with everyone affected. Tairāwhiti has once again been hit hard, and we are proud of FICA members who stepped up without hesitation to support clean‑up efforts.Windblow recovery in Tasman is progressing well thanks to a coordinat... Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:16:17 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post160354 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/159999/vocational-training-consultation/ As you may be aware, the Government is proposing significant changes to vocational training in NZ. To navigate our way through this, FICA and FOA (Forest Owners Association) formed a joint Forestry Training Committee.The committee is chaired by Kevin Ihaka (FICA) and has four members from FICA and four from FOA. The committee is recognised as the industry advisory group (IAG) to the government and its agencies, making it the voice of industry. The committee has been very active in recent months,... Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:25:12 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post159999 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/157998/fica-enewsletter--december-2025/ As the year draws to a close, we want to pause and celebrate the people who make our industry strong. 2025 has tested us, and margin squeeze has dominated discussions. Rising costs and compliance have collided with returns that remain stubbornly low. This challenge has been front and centre in our costing workshops, where we’ve begun building shared understanding between contractors and forest managers. Transparency is the first step toward restoring balance.Markets have added to the pres... Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:58:47 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post157998 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/157898/margins-under-pressure-fica-harvesting-costing-workshops/ On the back of a successful pilot FICA Costing Workshop in Gisborne, a second workshop was run 12 November in Rotorua. Presented by John Schrider and Kevin Reardon (Forme Group) and Mark Blackburne (Blackburne Group), the three have combined industry experience of over 100 years.There was a good mix of contractors and forest managers, with some good open and robust discussion. FICA acknowledges the support from forest managers; it is important that the whole of industry has a fundamental underst... Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post157898 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/post/155929/25-years-of-leadership-in-log-transport-safety/ On behalf of FICA , we want to acknowledge and thank Warwick for his exemplary leadership and enduring contribution to the Log Transport Safety Council (LTSC) over the past 25 years.Warwick played a pivotal role in uniting the log transport industry and establishing LTSC as the trusted forum where government, operators, and forest owners could work together to tackle critical safety challenges—most notably the truck rollover crisis.His leadership ushered in three defining shifts: a more profes... Sat, 08 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.fica.org.nz/blog/#post155929