Safetree NZ – It’s time to focus on the soft tissue issue

Soft tissue injuries are quietly becoming one of forestry’s biggest safety problems. New FISC work on ACC data shows that sprains, strains, and similar injuries consistently account for more than half of all ACC forestry claims requiring more than five days off work.

ACC defines soft tissue injuries as damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, nerves or other soft tissue – think torn ligaments, muscle strains, whiplash or repetitive strain injuries.

While the total number of soft tissue claims peaked in 2021, they’re consistently claiming a bigger slice of all forestry injuries:<

• 58% of all forestry claims in 2025,
• up from 47% in 2017,
• and higher than the 54% peak in 2021.

“Soft tissue injuries have been falling less quickly than other claim types,” says FISC chief executive Joe Akari. “That makes them a sticking point – and an area the industry needs to focus on. Fewer severe injuries mean fewer ACC claims, and that’s better for everyone.”

The cost trend is moving the wrong way too. The average soft tissue claim cost has jumped 50% in just five years:

• 2020–22: 1,933 claims costing $15.6m (avg. $8,060)
• 2023–25: 1,508 claims costing $18.1m (avg. $12,000)

And last year alone, for forestry ACC received:

• 194 soft tissue claims needing more than five days off, versus
• 67 fractures/dislocations,
• 36 lacerations or punctures, and
• 42 other injuries

That means more than half of all serious time-loss forestry injuries are soft tissue injuries.

“The next step is understanding what’s causing them,” Akari says. “Once we pinpoint the drivers, we can start reducing them — and we’ll share more as we work through the data.”

Source & chart credit: Safetree