Beyond automatic kickback detection, the Vygard Forestry pack carries the documented-checks load that FISA 302 and FISA 304 actually require: a daily chainsaw pre-use inspection whose mandatory items block clock-on, a six-layer Type-A PPE gate, LOLER climbing-kit inspection with the six-monthly competent-person cert date tracked, wood-chipper and brushcutter pre-use forms, a fire kit check gated on the DEFRA Fire Severity Index, and a 30-minute tap-to-confirm cadence that fires the escalation cascade if it is missed twice. Every SOS carries what3words plus the nearest navigable forest-road meeting point.
The headline feature is not the daily workload
We have written before about the Apple Watch chainsaw-cut detection in the Forestry pack, and it is the feature that gets the attention — reasonably, because a saw into a femoral artery is a sub-five-minute problem and far too fast to dial 999 yourself. But detection is the thing you hope never fires. What a forestry contractor actually deals with every week is documented checks, and that is the half of the pack worth walking through properly.
Forestry has the second-highest fatal injury rate of any UK sector, and tree surgery sits at the top of the activity-specific tables. FISA 302 and FISA 304 respond to that with a documented regime: pre-use inspection of the saw, correct Type-A PPE, and a lone-working check-in cadence. Most contractors run all three on paper, which means no audit trail, no automatic escalation, and a clipboard that lives in a pickup.
Checks that gate the work rather than record it afterwards
The chainsaw pre-use inspection follows FISA 302 item by item: chain brake, chain tension, throttle interlock, anti-vibration mounts, muffler, fuel mix, bar oil, trauma kit. The mandatory items block clock-on, which is the difference between a checklist and a control — a form you can skip is a form that gets skipped on the third wet morning in a row. An NFC tag on the saw autofills the serial so the record ties to the actual machine.
The PPE gate is the six-layer Type-A chainsaw kit under EN ISO 11393: helmet, visor, ear defence, chaps, gloves, boots, with optional selfie evidence if you want something stronger than a tick for a RIDDOR audit. Chipper and brushcutter each get their own pre-use form — the chipper one built around HSE WIS18, covering the feed-roller emergency-stop bar test, anvil and drum inspection, hopper guard, discharge angle, wind direction and exclusion zone, because chipper entanglement still kills several UK workers a year and the machine is usually still running when it happens.
Climbing kit, fire risk and the cadence
Climbing kit is the other life-critical system, and LOLER 1998 treats it accordingly. The pack runs a daily inspection across harness, rope, karabiners, helmet and rope adjusters against their respective standards, and tracks the six-monthly competent-person certificate date — which is the item teams most often lose track of, because it is annual-ish paperwork rather than a daily habit.
The fire kit check covers the FISA-mandated extinguisher, beater and spade alongside the day's DEFRA Fire Severity Index, and a red-flag day blocks saw start automatically. Comms get checked in the same pass: whistle, satellite communicator, PMR446 radio range test.
Holding it together is the FISA 304 cadence. While saw or climb mode is armed, the app asks for a tap-to-confirm every thirty minutes. Miss two and the cascade fires — no app to open, no button to find. Every alert carries what3words plus the nearest navigable forest-road RV point, because an ambulance crew given a postcode for a remote stand of timber is not being given a location.
Under canopy, off grid
Most UK woodland has no usable GSM signal, which is the condition that defeats a phone-only panic app. Where cellular drops, SOS routes over a paired satellite communicator — Garmin inReach, SPOT or Iridium — into the same escalation chain, and where the worker's phone supports Emergency SOS via satellite the app points them straight into it.
Forestry is one of the industry service packs built into the Vygard app: download Vygard, sign in and choose Forestry at first launch, and the pack loads automatically. Download it at https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/vygard/id6773709259.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the FISA 302 chainsaw pre-use check cover?
- Chain brake, chain tension, throttle interlock, anti-vibration mounts, muffler, fuel mix, bar oil and trauma kit. Items marked mandatory block clock-on until they are completed, and an NFC tag on the saw can autofill its serial so the record ties to the specific machine.
- How does the pack handle FISA 304 lone-working cadence?
- While saw or climb mode is armed, the app prompts for a tap-to-confirm every thirty minutes. Two missed prompts fire the full escalation cascade with the worker's location, so the worker never has to open an app or find a button during an incident.
- Does it track LOLER climbing-kit certification?
- Yes. There is a daily inspection across harness, rope, karabiners, helmet and rope adjusters, and the pack tracks the six-monthly competent-person certificate date for the kit alongside the daily checks.
- What happens to SOS under canopy with no signal?
- SOS routes over a paired satellite communicator — Garmin inReach, SPOT or Iridium — into the same escalation chain as a cellular alarm, and where the worker's phone supports Emergency SOS via satellite the app directs them into it. Alerts carry what3words plus the nearest navigable forest-road meeting point.
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Last updated 2026-10-08