Arabic version: قاضية تحقيقات في تسمانيا تدعو إلى قواعد لقطع الأشجار الخاصة

According to ABC News, a Tasmanian coroner has called for tighter regulation of private tree-felling activities after a 63-year-old retired nurse died while cutting down a tree at a Buddhist monastery in 2023.

Coroner Leigh Mackey found the man, referred to as LO, was crushed when an 18-metre black wattle tree fell unpredictably at a rural property in northern Tasmania’s Great Western Tiers region on November 23, 2023. He had visited the monastery, where he sometimes meditated, to cut down the large, twisted tree.

The coroner found LO had significant experience using a chainsaw at his own Gunns Plains property and was wearing a hard hat and safety goggles. As the tree fell, he tried to move clear, but its head landed on his back. The property owner found him beneath the tree and contacted emergency services. His death was deemed an accident.

Mackey said the incident was avoidable and that the absence of training contributed to it. She noted that recommendations for training and accreditation of private chainsaw operators, made in 2017 after six men died while privately felling trees, had not been adopted in the nine years since.

The coroner recommended that the Tasmanian government investigate and implement regulation of private tree felling, particularly training requirements, and increase public awareness of dangers faced by people without specialised training. A government spokesperson said every avoidable death was a tragedy and said significant resources were available to educate Tasmanians about safe chainsaw use at work and on private properties.