Safe forest work starts with a site-specific plan that identifies the actual hazards, separates people from dangerous operations and gives every contractor clear instructions before work begins. The Forest Safety Code (Tasmania) provides the main practical reference for forestry operations in Tasmania.
This matters to forest managers and harvesting crews, but also to builders, subcontractors, supervisors and tradies entering forest sites for road, maintenance, electrical, communications or construction work.
What does the Forest Safety Code cover?
The Code covers risk management across forest operations, including site access and roading, timber harvesting, log extraction, landings, stockpiles, loading and silviculture.
It should be read with the current Tasmanian WHS framework and any requirements applying to the particular land, operation or contract. Local requirements vary, so check current regulator material before relying on a document or starting work. If a national Model Code is also relevant, treat it as general orientation rather than automatically applicable law.
Main forest work hazards
Forest conditions can change quickly. Common hazards include:
- hazardous trees, suspended branches and falling objects
- manual or mechanical tree felling
- moving harvesters, loaders, trucks and other mobile plant
- rolling logs, stored energy and materials under tension
- steep, unstable, rocky or slippery ground
- poor visibility, noise and unreliable communication
- fatigue, remote or isolated work and delayed emergency response
- fire, severe weather, solar UV radiation and cold conditions
- chainsaws, plant maintenance and ejected material
- hazardous chemicals used for spraying, fuels or maintenance
- adjoining crews whose work may create new risks.
Hazards often combine. Poor weather can reduce visibility and traction, increase fatigue and make a hazardous tree less predictable. Controls therefore need to reflect the whole operation, not one task in isolation.
What should be sorted before work starts?
The landowner or forest manager should establish the site hazards and operating conditions, then consult the contractors who will perform the work. For a forest coupe, this is commonly documented in a Forest Operations Safety Plan, or FOS Plan.
Before mobilisation, confirm:
- access routes, road conditions, signage and traffic rules
- operational boundaries, exclusion zones and separation distances
- hazardous trees, slopes, unstable ground, powerlines and underground services
- work sequencing where several contractors or machines share the site
- suitable plant, attachments and protective structures for the terrain
- operator competency, induction and supervision arrangements
- communication, check-in, first aid, emergency and evacuation arrangements
- weather, fire, fatigue and stop-work triggers
- who can change the plan and how changes will be communicated.
Contractors should check the hazards again before commencing their operation. Conditions must then be monitored during the shift, with controls reviewed when the terrain, weather, equipment, personnel or work sequence changes.
What good controls and documents usually cover
Good forest safety arrangements combine physical controls, safe systems and clear records. They commonly include an FOS Plan, contractor operational plans, inductions, task procedures, plant inspections, competency records, emergency arrangements and evidence that workers were consulted.
Practical controls may include properly marked exclusion zones, physical or time-based separation, reliable radio protocols, machine guarding, suitable operator protection, planned maintenance and controlled entry to landings or loading areas.
For hazardous trees, the Code describes identifying and recording the tree, establishing a clearly marked hazardous zone and keeping work out of that zone until the danger is controlled. For lone work, planning should consider communication reliability, rescue capability, changing conditions and whether working alone can be eliminated.
When does a SWMS commonly apply?
Forestry work does not use a SWMS simply as a substitute for the FOS Plan or operational planning. A SWMS commonly enters the picture when the job also involves construction activity that is classified as high risk construction work. This may arise in some road, bridge, structure, power, communications or service work, depending on the exact task and work environment.
Confirm the classification and current jurisdictional requirements for the actual job. Other site-specific documents may still be needed even where a SWMS is not the applicable document.
Warning signs that work needs to stop and be reviewed
Pause the job when:
- a hazardous tree, unstable log or ground hazard has not been assessed
- people enter a machine, felling or loading exclusion zone
- communications or agreed check-ins fail
- weather, fire, visibility or ground conditions move outside the plan
- plant is damaged, unsuitable or being used beyond its operating limits
- contractors are following conflicting plans or work sequences
- a worker lacks the required induction, competency or supervision
- an emergency route, first aid arrangement or rescue method is unavailable.
Stopping briefly to reassess is far safer than allowing an undocumented workaround to become the new system of work.
How Blue Safe can help
Blue Safe provides compliant WHS documents tailored to the client's activities, applicable Australian WHS/OHS requirements, jurisdiction and industry. This can include forestry risk documents, contractor procedures, emergency arrangements, inductions, SWMS where applicable and supporting registers or records.
Blue Safe guarantees the document compliance of the WHS documents it provides, including eligible customer documents after Blue Safe has reviewed and upgraded them.
Customers actively put the compliant documents into practice through controls, consultation, training, actions, records and evidence. This creates a practical connection between the written system, the conditions found on site and the way work is actually supervised and completed.
Official sources
- WorkSafe Tasmania - Forest Safety Code (Tasmania)
- Tasmanian Work Health and Safety Act 2012
- Tasmanian Work Health and Safety Regulations 2022
Information current: 8 August 2026.