Use of a chainsaw without any CS certification

[westphalian]

Hey Stubby, so for example, i was offered a large ash tree to cut up off a farmer friend of mine a while ago, but the tree had come down on a heavily used public footpath / bridleway that went through his land. I thought about it but did shy away from the job because i had no certs, no insurance etc and back then didnt really have any proper good chainsaw pants etc either [emoji6][emoji39] So would i have been ok to do it in the eyes of the law? 

 

Pussy!You being a grown up can decide on competency. I would have nicked some cones, there are loads of these round my way someone has left by the side of a road, and demanded a crate of beer from farmerThe OP is doing it for employment, I would do it as a favour letting him know what tipple I prefer.

I did this one for a farmer using my B&Q corded chainsaw with an 8” bar. It only cost £50 and I looked on YouTube chainsaw fails so as not to make any mistakes

The extension cable cost me £200 though

[Gary Prentice]

I'm sure that's a stock photo, you'd be wearing shorts and flip flops! 

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Mesterh said:

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.

 

Well this is currently the case if you are an employee or self employed working commercially, HSaW 1974 requires training and competence and PUWER 1998 requires those using chainsaws to show that competence by  being assessed under a recognised scheme.

 

Given that H&S now charge for interventions then even if everything else is squeaky clean...

 

In 1983 I was brought up for having a tractor with a step more than 21" from the ground, he could find nothing else wrong, now I would be charged for that advice (though it is no longer a requirement as the regulations were superseded by the working at height regs.)

[GazN]

Ask your insurance company if you're insured should something go wrong. the answer will be no so it's then your decision if you want to carry on without insurance.

[Mark Bolam]

3 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

...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.  

 

 

Very good post Mr. J.

There were myself (very green, but keen, fresh off my 30/31 course) and two of the characters you describe above booked in for assessment.

I passed, they both failed.

The assessor wasn't some suit, he was a working arb foreman who had been in the game a long time. You know the type, looked like a gnarly surfer, grimey, bad-tempered, thousand yard stare, zero patience for fools (although he passed me, just, but basically told me I was still shite).

 

If anyone is as good as they think they are, assessment only is a pretty cheap way of proving it.

 

I've never done a course and not learned something (often that I've been doing something wrong for a long time).

[AHPP]

PUWER 1998 requires those using chainsaws to show that competence by  being assessed under a recognised scheme.

Which bit says that?

[petercb]

36 minutes ago, AHPP said:

 

Which bit says that?

 

PUWER Approved Code of Practice top of page 34 and if you don't follow that then you had better be able to show an extremely good reason why not. Had dealings with HSE when young and green a discussion was ended with the words "Either do it my way or I issue an immediate prohibition notice" 

Code of Practice not technically law but issued under HSAW Act so basically as good as. 

[AHPP]

PUWER Approved Code of Practice top of page 34 and if you don't follow that then you had better be able to show an extremely good reason why not. Had dealings with HSE when young and green a discussion was ended with the words "Either do it my way or I issue an immediate prohibition notice" 
Code of Practice not technically law but issued under HSAW Act so basically as good as. 

So PUWER doesn’t say it and the code of practice isn’t law. There have been 37976 pieces of secondary legislation passed since 1998. If the government wanted it to be law, it would be law.

[Ratman]

Anyone need a tree chopping up beginning of november? I’m doing my chainsaw ticket last week in october so i should be all legal by then! [emoji51]

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

13 minutes ago, AHPP said:

So PUWER doesn’t say it and the code of practice isn’t law. There have been 37976 pieces of secondary legislation passed since 1998. If the government wanted it to be law, it would be law.

You’ve got to love the detail! ??