In the past few months I have had the absolute pleasure of working on the Safetree™ project in collaboration with industry and government agencies, and local superstars Black Dog Design and Indelible.

Safetree™ is part of the Government’s commitment to reducing serious harm and fatalities in New Zealand’s workplaces by 25% by 2020. Safetree™ will provide resources (videos, printable downloads and other resources) so that whatever the task, or the position in the crew, the message is always to do the job right, and do it safely, every single time.

Mogul was involved right from the start of this project and the absolute key to the whole initiative was – how do we resonate with the audience, and how do we make it feel ‘real’ so that it doesn’t look like a marketing exercise.

The strategy became very clear –  we needed a well-respected safety champion and the workers themselves to deliver the messages  – to become Safetree™ ambassadors.

James Treadwell – a new Hawke’s Bay local, President of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry and Safetree™ project manager, and Warwick Foran, General Manager Crown Forestry for the Ministry for Primary Industries engaged Wiremu Edmonds, a long-time workplace safety advocate, and Mangoihe Logging from Whanganui for a few days of filming and the results have blown everyone away. This is the intro video for the initiative:

McCarthy Transport uploaded the video to their Facebook page and to date these are the stats: 35,439 views, 698 shares, 494 likes, 64 comments. And the comments have been amazing. One guy felt the video hadn’t hit the mark but most people disagreed. Even Jack, one of our Safetree™ champions weighed in on the discussion:

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The website itself provides safety resources for all forestry workers – owners and managers, contractors, foremen, head breaker outs, breaker outs, tree fallers, hauler and machine operators and silviculture workers.  A one-stop-shop for all things forest safety:

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It has been a fantastic project to be involved in, and its success so far can also be credited to working with a great client who has trust in the process and the expertise of the people around the table.

We can’t wait for phase 2 – watch this space!

“I really valued that Mogul just got on with it and did it. They solved problems themselves rather than relying on me to provide answers. They were not only a great crew to work with, but the website has been very well received and we have had lots of positive feedback from the industry.” –  James Treadwell, Safetree™ Project Manager