This year’s Wenita Safe Start Breakfast was held on Tuesday, January 11 at the Village Green Café & Bar in Green Island. We had around 140 attendees which included contractors, service agents, C3 port workers and guests.
We had two guest speakers – Worksafe’s Health and Safety Inspector Robert Bryson and our main speaker, Heli Otago’s CEO and Managing Director Graeme Gale. Both gave excellent speeches that were very insightful. Robert informed contractors of Worksafe’s goals and what to expect when they arrive on site. Graeme’s PowerPoint presentation detailed the impressive gadgets, resources and process used in a rescue. An important point he emphasised was the need when making a 111 call, to clearly communicate that the road system/conditions mean an ambulance will struggle to reach the scene and it is best to send a rescue helicopter instead.
We also handed out some very important certificates to some of our contractors.
These are as follows:
Professional Tree Faller
- Phil Jones – Roxburgh 2
- Wayde Lindsay – Griffin 1
- Callum MacLeod – Griffin 2
- Norman Rewita – Griffin 3
Top Spot
2022 saw a great result for Top Spot, with six contractors being awarded placings for the full year:
- Blair McColl – Roxburgh 2 – 1st in Yarder Operation
- Kyle Mikaere – Roxburgh 1 – 1st in Shovel Logging
- Damian Mikaere – Roxburgh 1 – 1st in Mechanised Tree Felling
- Martin Glassford – Griffin 2 – 2nd in Mechanised Processing
- Alex McColl – Roxburgh 2 – 3rd in 2 Separate Tasks
- Chris Cousins – Griffin 2 – 3rd in Machine Operation on the Landing
We would also like to thank our sponsors:
- Crediflex
- Dynes Transport
- Cooke Howlison Toyota
- AB Equipment
- PFP
- C3