Use of a chainsaw without any CS certification

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Will Heal said:

It’s a saw not a gun, you don’t ‘need’ a license just get on with it

Just as well as there is no such thing as a chainsaw license .

[Yournamehere]

5 hours ago, jimmy45d said:

Assuming I have the necessary public liability insurance...

Just a passing thought; not my field of expertise at all; but might help.

My PLI doesn't cover me for chainsaw work; which is not a problem as I don't do chainsaw work for my customers.

So check that you are covered for chainsaw work on you PLI before you need to rely on it.

And also check that if chainsaw work is included, that some form of certificate of competency isn't required to validate the cover.

[Ratman]

Just a passing thought; not my field of expertise at all; but might help.
My PLI doesn't cover me for chainsaw work; which is not a problem as I don't do chainsaw work for my customers.
So check that you are covered for chainsaw work on you PLI before you need to rely on it.
And also check that if chainsaw work is included, that some form of certificate of competency isn't required to validate the cover.

Does sound very plausible [emoji106]

[petercb]

The definitive word from HSE - as Dirty Harry said do you feel lucky? 

 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/chainsaw-operator.htm

[Billhook]

1 hour ago, petercb said:

The definitive word from HSE - as Dirty Harry said do you feel lucky? 

 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/chainsaw-operator.htm

Seems to be the rule to go by.

As an elderly farmer having never met Gary Prentice, I can see where he is coming from!  We old farmers have had a lifetime of flak and are quite used to it.  I was not aware that there were grandfather rights anymore with chainsaws.

I seem to remember that in spite of the fact I do not employ anybody and my farm has only one footpath on the boundary. my insurance would not cover me as I was deemed to be working for the business (which is a partnership and not a company) unless I had a chainsaw certificate.  So I duly went on a course and gained one.  It cannot do any harm to do a course.

I do not think it matters in the eyes of the law if someone is trespassing and happens to be under a tree you have just dropped, I suppose it may even be a child hiding in the bushes, you will be nailed in court without insurance.

The strange thing is that I can use the chainsaw in my garden (last time I looked into it) without any certificate or insurance.

An no Gary, my chain is never slack, always tight, just like my sixpack!

 

And I do ride a bike!

[Gary Prentice]

Wasn't me who who said your chain was slack Bill

 

Thought this thread was a little ironic after passing a shop fitter with a chainsaw on the high street Monday afternoon,  happily sawing a beam, all within his safety zone of a traffic cone and totally oblivious to passers by. 

[jimmy45d]

Thank you very much for all of your input! Sounds like it is 'at my own risk', and that should anything go wrong, I may have some issues with insurance. I will decide at the time whether the risk is worth it.

[petercb]

Thank you very much for all of your input! Sounds like it is 'at my own risk', and that should anything go wrong, I may have some issues with insurance. I will decide at the time whether the risk is worth it.

No if you have not been trained you will be in breach of Health and Safety at Work Act and also PUWER. Quite clear on the HSE site I linked in my previous post and the use of chainsaws leaflet you can download from that site.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

18 hours ago, jimmy45d said:

I would consider myself safe and proficient with experience gained from private use

...and if that is what you're happy to insert in your training record which would be a part of the documentation that could be examined in the event of an investigation, then that's fine.  Best of luck.

 

I still look back at the maintenance & crosscutting course - the first, the entry level course - and I have no hesitation in very strongly recommending it to any chainsaw user that I have the opportunity to talk to.

 

A couple of things that have always stuck in my mind since then:

 

I remember the frustration and resignation that the instructors expressed when talking about people that joined that course and started with the "...I've been using chainsaws all my life..." line.  Which invariably translates to "...I've self learnt or watched and copied the incredibly dangerous and inefficient way to do something which I'm too pig stubborn to change and there's nothing I can learn, or need to consider on this course, I'll just do the exam and be on my way..."  Which generally resulted in a failure to achieve the qualifying criteria and has the knock-on effect of creating an ardent anti-training individual because they thought they knew better than the trainers but couldn't deliver the goods when required to do so.  If that is NOT the case, and someone genuinely IS a very competent casual user having benefitted from self taught or learnt good practice then doing the course actually will be a doddle and there is still the potential to improve and / or advance and share some of your experience around the course colleagues.

 

It's a relatively short course, it's also a minimal expense.  For me, it was the first step on a journey which has come far and continues.  If you choose your trainer wisely, there is very little to loose if you get to the end and find it was a waste of time / money but there is so much that can be achieved from that very first small step in the right direction.  

 

 

[Mesterh]

It's always an interesting topic when it comes to certification/training.

 

We have people like the ones in the 'cyclist nearly had his head taken off' thread to thank for over the top hse requirements but then the training required to get a cert is very minimal and the test extremely easy to pass. 

 

Imo, you should have to have some training by law meaning you can be prosecuted/fined for not complying rather than waiting for an accident to happen and taking a gamble if the insurance will pay out it not, and it should be made more difficult to obtain. It might also weed out those who just want a bit of cash on the side compared to those that really want to do the job.