Preventing Tree Work Injuries

[Marc]

100% bag on the money Bob

 

Yes some one needs to be in charge "supervising" watching every thing that's going on

 

Communication Is vital every one needs to know what's going on who's doing what "site briefing"

 

And we like to have spare climbing kit & 1st Aid kits on site where there needed along with site signs, barriers

 

Also house keeping is very important keep the site clean & tidy removes tripping hazards and stops climbing rope going tro chippers wile still attached to climbers

 

good team, team work, work safely, go home at the end of day

 

 

We do not have site supervisors or anyone in charge, a person will be assigned team leader for the job and be given the job card it is their responsibility is to ensure the paperwork is filled in and the job is completed to specification.

 

No one is the boss of anyone and we are all climbers there are no ground crew on our teams.

 

It's not always an ideal way of doing things, we of course have staff that have only a few years on the job but they are backed up by those with "good" experience and we try to ensure every job has the experience required to complete the job safely.

 

We discuss how jobs went and look to improve all the time.

 

Going by our accident record we have in the last 10 years had 3 on site what I'd call significant near misses, one requiring a few stitches to a toe, the others required no medical and were just that, near misses.

 

Accidents at our yard however are probably twice as high, interestingly 2 blows to the head requiring stitches whilst maintaining machinery.

Reviewing these accidents and looking at how they could/can be avoided maybe we should stipulate wearing a hard hat when carrying out maintenance or walking around the yard?

 

Or maybe stay away from our yard as it's the most dangerous place to be.

 

Anyway my main point is other than when new people are introduced to the team we should not need to constantly supervise the team, once a site is going with chainsaws chippers plant and machinery you cannot orchestrate that every team member has to slot into their role and be mindful of others.

 

I struggle myself to manage this, we have had people join the team who are extremely competent but the do not gel with the team it makes for difficult decisions particularly when you have a high work load and need staff desperately but I cannot put pressure on my core team by introducing someone that needs supervision.

 

A unified team is a happy, productive and safe team...... but my god dealing with all the personalities and prima donnas is hard work.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Marc

[Joel77]

Sounds like your up against it, and in need of a yardman to run your yard

 

My meatherd works well for me, someone needs to be in charge that's my team is a good team but you'll be surprised how much more efficiently a job can run when you take a step back and watch to see what's going on

 

It's hard to keep an eye on every one and every thing if your busy yourself

[Marc]

Sounds like your up against it, and in need of a yardman to run your yard

 

My meatherd works well for me, someone needs to be in charge that's my team is a good team but you'll be surprised how much more efficiently a job can run when you take a step back and watch to see what's going on

 

It's hard to keep an eye on every one and every thing if your busy yourself

 

Yes it is stressful, and in the busy times you just want guys who can crack on and do the job efficiently and safely without supervision as it's hard to plan every job down to the finest detail and I cannot be everywhere making sure everything goes to plan.

 

I hope my comments do not get taken out of context, having someone run a site and coordinate a team is a positive thing also having a group of individuals who can come together as a team is also great.

 

In my ideal world I'd have more full timers and consistent teams and have one person in charge of each team, and yes a yard man. Alas it's not an ideal world. So we just use good individuals to work together to get the job done and it's my experience if you have motivated and talented individuals they can all work as a team without supervision.

[Joel77]

It's good to read all comments see how other people operate,

 

Before we start work I like to get the site set up, stuff moved out of the way, stuff protected, fence panels removed, gates removed, etc I see this as the 1st step ov preventing any potential accidents

 

Also I like to dedicate jobs to people,

 

so one guy is operating the chipper and that's his only job that way the chippers not revving it's nuts off when there's nothing to chip it's his job his on top of it diesel oil blades grease etc

 

This system works for me as every opp has a set job witch means they each get a blow in between busy runs witch also means more focus on the job in hand

 

At the end of the day I'm sure we all want the same things

 

A good job done

 

Working safe

 

Earning a few quid

 

Probably the most common corse of accidents are when working under pressure so I try to avoid that like the plague by allowing enuff time and staff for each job

 

I win. 9 jobs out of 10 and I'm not the cheepset to win the work I'd like to think fair

[TIMON]

We always have one guy to mange the drop zone/look after the climber. Just having this one principle in place vastly reduces the risk of accidents in the drop zone. It also creates a smooth production line ensuring a steady flow of work. One or two guys work from the edge of the drop zone to the chipper and then one on the chipper. Depending on size of the job. Looks great on the RAMS but more importantly reduces the risks in practice. This method has really paid off for us in terms of safety and productivity. [emoji106]

 

 

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[Taupotreeman]

Stitches to a toe isn't a near miss it's an incident.

 

 

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[fagus]

I gave some chain saw training in my time. One thing I used to say was treat the saw as a firearm i.e don't point it at someone or let it point at yourself.

[gooseflight]

We have trainees one currently has most of the relevant tickets although it will be a few years of careful supervision and good guidance before he is in my opinion competent to carry out tree work without supervision or at least another experienced hand on site.

 

This. The training may be adequate but it's a starting point.

 

Look at it this way, a driving test gets you a piece of paper. It doesn't prepare you for motorway driving, driving on unlit roads at night in torrential rain, driving on snow and ice, etc.

[Nikk]

Good comment about chainsaw and firearm , either will kill you !

 

 

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[Mick Dempsey]

Good comment about chainsaw and firearm , either will kill you !

 

 

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One of them is designed to do that though!