Health, safety and wellbeing

Health, safety and wellbeing

Forestry is serious work. That's why we’re committed to making it safe and responsible. To us, that means looking after our employees' health, safety and wellbeing. It also means caring for those we work with, our visitors and the communities we work in.

We want to be an example to all organisations working in the forest environment. We take pride in our health, safety and welfare culture. In Forestry and Land Scotland we aim to:

  • Eliminate work accidents for our workers and contractors
  • Sustain a healthy working environment that supports physical and mental health
  • Promote healthier lifestyles, benefitting workforce health
  • Foster a strong health, safety and welfare culture with those we work with
  • Reduce public accidents from recreational forest use

Our Health and Safety Policy Statement 2022-23 (PDF)

 

Protecting forestry workers

Forestry is a high risk industry. Every year workers are killed or injured at work. Lots more suffer from work-related illness. We want to reduce this impact on workers. We’re founder members of FISA, the forestry industry’s safety body. We work with our FISA partners to promote successful health safety management, develop good practice guidance and help drive sector improvements.

 

Looking after our staff

We care deeply about our staff and recognise the importance of taking a proactive approach to improving their health and wellbeing at work. We’re driving forward an ambitious improvement programme that puts health, safety and wellbeing at the heart of our organisation. We work in partnership with staff and trade unions through a network of Scottish safety committees. This empowers employees to actively take part in improving standards.

 

Caring for visitors

We want all our visitors to go home safe and well. Using the Visitor Safety in the Countryside Guiding principles we will provide opportunities for members of the public to enjoy woodlands safely, without impacting their sense of freedom and adventure.

 

Resources

Throughout our site you’ll find practical, common sense guidance on keeping yourself safe in the forest. We’ll tell you about significant work in our forests and what you need to do to avoid danger.

For our workers, you’ll find industry guidance on the FISA and HSE websites. We’ll also publish our own guidance to support everyone working in the forest