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Cuts and lacerations in the arboricultural industry

We have been experiencing a trend with our vegetation contractors of regular annual cuts or lacerations and are wanting to know if this is an industry wide problem or if we have a systemic problem internally. We are looking at any trends in the arboricultural industry around the use of hand saws or chain saws (or other accidents relating to the industry)

This would give us a better focus on what we would need to put in place to prevent these types of incidents.

Giving us a clear indication whether we need to do more extensive work or whether the trend is across the industry.


Response from
Accident Compensation Corporation

Dataset submitted

12 August 2024 Kia ora Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-033848 Thank you for your email of 18 July 2024, asking for the following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act): 1. We have been experiencing a trend with our vegetation contractors of regular annual cuts or lacerations and are wanting to know if this is an industry wide problem or if we have a systemic problem internally. We are looking at any trends in the arboricultural industry around the use of hand saws or chain saws (or other accidents relating to the industry) Data to respond to your request is attached as an excel file, here: https://catalogue.data.govt.nz/dataset/gov-033848-data-for-cuts-and-lacerations-in-the-arboricultural-industry When interpreting the data, please consider the ‘notes’ page. Attention should be given especially to the limitations of ACC fatality data. The data is based on claims made and may not represent the total number of fatalities related to accidents, as these do not always lead to claims being lodged. Many people are not aware that they can make a claim related to an accidental death of a family member, and if a person who has an open claim with ACC dies of their injuries, or other causes, ACC is not necessarily notified of this. Claim counts fewer than four Some values in the tables only indicate that the claim count is fewer than four (denoted as <4) or, if the presence of totals could allow a suppressed number to be derived further suppression is displayed as two dots (..), to protect our clients’ privacy. This decision is made under section 9(2)(a) of the Act. In doing so, we have considered the public interest in making the information available and have determined that it does not outweigh the need to protect our clients’ privacy. If you have any questions about this response, please get in touch You can email me at GovernmentServices@acc.co.nz. If you are not happy with this response, you can also contact the Ombudsman via info@ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602. Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Ngā mihi Christopher Johnston Manager Official Information Act Services Government Engagement

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