FWM Competence
The Forestry Works Manager (FWM) role and associated responsibilities are laid out in the FISA Guidance on Managing Health and Safety in Forestry (GMHSF) and Guidance on Responsibilities for Environmental Protection in Forestry (GREPF).
The FWM is pivotal in ensuring safety, health, welfare and environmental standards are established, implemented and maintained, with the aim of protecting all site personnel along with others who may be affected by the work, including third party visitors, members of the public and the wider environment.
The FWM is the person or organisation who commissions the work on a forestry site. The full duties of a FWM may be met and/or supported by an organisation, rather than any individual employee of an organisation.
It is essential that those undertaking the roles and responsibilities of the FWM are competent to do so. This includes identifying limitations within organisations and individuals and recognising when it is necessary to acquire competent assistance.
FWM Framework for Competence and Continual Professional Development
The framework lays out the core areas of Health, Safety and Environmental management competence required for those with FWM responsibilities and supports the role as defined in the GMHSF and GREPF documents.
All organisations and individuals involved in the delivery of the FWM role shall look to ensure a suitable program of Continual Professional Development (CPD) is in place. This can be a maintaining of the Core Skills, gaining knowledge in other Operational Areas or new technologies or Complementary Soft Skills.
Typical tasks that may be delivered by those engaged in the role of a FWM, fully or partially, are indicated in the Core Health & Safety Skills and Operational Hazard tables in the framework. Organisations and individuals may use these tables to identify or review competency, both within their organisations or in the individuals involved;
- for the work scope they deliver
- for a change or extension of their scope of work
- following a change in their management structure which may affect the delivery of the FWM role.
Records of CPD should be documented and maintained. Many organisations will have their own systems for doing this. The framework gives two examples, a simple and detailed layout, which FWMs can adopt and amend to suit their needs.
FWM Principal Work Scope. Training and Assessment Provision
Training is a key aspect of a FWM’s competency profile, both in the gaining, maintaining and development of competence. This is particularly relevant as the industry undergoes both technical skill and development changes.
In support of this, the Framework sets out industry recognised work scope, training and qualification standards.
Training and assessment scopes and associated providers, for work categories within the FWM principal work scopes, are available via the links shown below: