Apprentice wins STIHL chainsaw in felling techniques competition

Oct. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- APF is the leading exhibition for the forestry, woodland, arboriculture, wood fuel and utility sectors in the UK. Around 250 Exhibitors and 20,000 visitors attend over the three days of the show.

The felling techniques competition was part of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) ‘Safety Village’ stand and the great prizes from STIHL UK proved a real incentive. The competition was made challenging by asking competitors to name and describe the benefits of the different types of felling cuts on display and state when they may be used. Entrants were also asked to identify bad practices or faults on a range of the demonstration cuts.

The first prize of a STIHL professional chainsaw went to Nick Hayes who works for the City of London Corporation as a conservation arborist. He is completing a one-year trees and timber apprenticeship with Capel Manor College and City and Guilds.

Martin Lennon, UPM Tilhill’s Skills Training Manager and the competition co-ordinator, said: “It’s great to see a modern apprentice winning what was a difficult competition and I think this shows the high quality of apprentices these days.”

In second place was Ed Clark who is a forestry manager in South Wales. Both Nick and Ed’s scores put them well in the lead so they were easy to identify as the winners.

Martin added: “The HSE stand at this year’s APF was very busy and built on the success of the 2010 event. Due to the familiar cost constraints, the benefits of our industry co-operating with the HSE and sharing the cost of the ‘Safety Village’ was clear. Other advantages included a dedicated safety area and bringing together organisations working on overlapping areas of health, safety, training and assessment.

“This resulted in good quality-interaction and discussions with visitors taking the opportunity to ask HSE inspectors specific questions about issues such as the future availability of AFAG (Arboriculture and Forestry Advisory Group) guides, the development of the new Forestry Industry Safety Accord (FISA) and its initiative of developing tailored operator refresher training. Visitors also wanted to hear about, discuss and learn from recent accidents and incidents.
“HSE requested assistance with this year’s APF via AFAG and allowed us to demonstrate the industry’s proactive commitment to improving health and safety by providing talking points and encouraging visitors to get involved in discussions about health and safety.”

Established more than 60 years ago, UPM Tilhill is a national company operating from a network of offices throughout the UK.

UPM Tilhill is the UK’s largest timber harvesting and forest management company. The company provides a full range of consultancy and contracting services to the forest owner and forestry investor.  Further information is available on the company’s website at www.upm-tilhill.com

ENDS
Notes to editors:
For further press information contact Suzi Christie PR Consultant for UPM Tilhill on 01435 830031 or e-mail suzi@blueberry-pr.co.uk

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production plants in 17 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com