KEY POINTS:
Contact: FITEC, ph 0800 11 99 11, website www.fitec.org.nz, email info@fitec.org.nz.
Course costs: The cost of training is supported by FITEC, through industry and tertiary education funding but is, at times, topped up by employer contributions.
Prerequisites: None, as skills are gained on the job and through industry-based training.
Courses: Training can be started at any time and is facilitated through FITEC regional training advisers. Trainees learn on the job or can attend polytechnics' pre-employment introductory courses. Diploma and degree courses are available at polytechnics and universities for those wanting to enter the industry at management level or as a scientist.
Salaries: $20,000-$35,000 for a new forestry worker, between $45,000 and $60,000 for experienced harvesters. A crew foreman or forestry contractor can earn significantly more.
Working hours: 40-hour weeks plus travel time (10-15 hours).
Career opportunities: Tree-felling, machinery operator, crew foreman, partial or full ownership of a harvesting crew, supervisor, planner or local manager, through to senior roles within industry companies.
Forest industries are a vital contributor to the economy as an export earner and employer.
More than 20,000 people are directly employed by forest industries, with more than 100,000 employed indirectly. It is also the country's third largest export earner, with international sales exceeding $3.2 billion.
FITEC is the industry training organisation for the forestry, wood manufacturing, furniture, biosecurity and credit management industries. It provides leadership on skill and training needs, designs national qualifications, sets national standards and arranges industry training.
And there's more to forest industries than just growing trees, chopping them down and cutting them up. Opportunities include careers in specialised fields such as biosecurity and biogenetics, as well as pulp, paper and wood products manufacturing.
Ben Roborgh has come through the FITEC courses and is now owner-operator of CAT Logging.
Roborgh's interest in forests started when he was 12, giving his dad a hand in the forests around Nelson. In 1989, he enrolled in Nelson Polytechnic's first forestry course (no longer running). For Roborgh, learning is an important part of the job. He believes that training reduces risk and increases safety.
He learnt theory and practical elements in school rather than working his way up. This meant that when he finished and was out working, he wasn't kept as long on one job.
During the past 18 years, Roborgh has completed seven national certificates with FITEC. Two mentors are Hugh Booker and Mike Fraser, and it was Fraser who employed Roborgh and then offered him 50 per cent ownership in CAT Logging in 2003, which he bought outright last year.
He has refocused the business from being ground-based to a cable crew with a hauler, which means organising more training. All his crew are working towards FITEC national certificates, ranging from log loading and forestry harvesting to cable and mechanical harvesting.
The industry is desperately short of good, reliable employees in Northland and the Gisborne area, as plots are maturing and ready for harvest.
OWNER/OPERATOR Ben Roborgh, 36
Owner/operator of CAT Logging.
Most of my training has been done on the job. The training not done on the job has been courses - first aid, health and safety theory, incident investigation, national certificate in first line management and the training to become a trainer and assessor.
The reason forestry was my chosen career was I have always enjoyed the outdoors - hunting, tramping, climbing, fishing, mountain biking.
I had some exposure to forestry while still at school through my father, who had a post contracting crew in Golden Downs. I enjoy the job's challenges. There is still a new challenge every day, even after 18 years.
I always had a goal to become a logging contractor and focused on doing as much training as possible from the start. In the early days people weren't that interested in training and qualifications. I was able to get a lot of time with the trainers and assessors. I also had great mentors.
Training teaches you the best, safest way to do the job. If you follow the standards it becomes a habit that looks after you.
EMPLOYER
Yuri Schokking
Harvest operations manager
Nelson Forests
Ben has the unique quality where his technical capabilities (essential in an effective logging contractor) go well with his sound business ability. He is an up-and-coming skilled logger who has the "can do" attitude.
He has made a natural progression from starting in logging to now owning and operating his own cable logging business.
Important qualities for his role are technical knowledge of logging systems, machinery operation, the safe and efficient management of people and running of a business.
Ben's training and qualifications are based on a structured learning programme. It gives us, the employer, and Ben the confidence that he has a balanced knowledge of what is required to run a logging business successfully. All considerations are combined - safety management, technical logging knowledge, staff management and business management.
donna.mcintyre@xtra.co.nz
