Lone working and safety in forestry

[Sirius]

Hi all,

I am a employed forester on an estate, i work alone most of the time in remote places. I fell, winch, extract usi g a forwarder and tractor and process timber on my own.

I cant say i am all that comfortable with this situation.

 

I am concern that i need to be safe as possible. Often i dont have mobile coverage and cant use the three words app to log my position or stay in contact with the estate office.

Even with mobile reception if something went wrong, and i couldn't use my mobile, i often think what would happen and how i would get assistance or help?

 

My employer has also asked me to do aerial work in a cage on a telehandler. I am not keen, firstly as its not my bag, as i am a terra firma kinda guy and secondly as the machine hasnt been lola inspected i dont believe. So i have declined unless i am trained and machinery and operator is also appropriately trained.

 

So do any members have any input to help? Should i request from my employer that i have assistance for operations? or a lone worker alarm? Or both?

I am in the process of reevaluation of my risk assessments and procedures. So any help would be greatly appreciated to keep me safe.

Kind regards

 

Sirius

 

[aspenarb]

We run a no lone working policy where possible, on the occasions where this is not possible and  phone signal is crap we have a six station long range walkie talkie set up that we use, our guys are using it more often now to save beating up their phones. Its good for about four miles and will pair up with helmet comms.

 

Bob

[jfc]

Hi,

 

Yeah doesn't sound great safety wise. On my first aid course the guy had these transeivers which worked anywhere, they weren't cheap but were what he recommended for lone workers.

 

In reach Explorer and Spot locator. I took a pic of them in case we ever needed it, but never have.

 

They were a few hundred quid to buy then you need a yearly contract.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Jan.

[openspaceman]

38 minutes ago, Sirius said:

My employer has also asked me to do aerial work in a cage on a telehandler. I am not keen, firstly as its not my bag, as i am a terra firma kinda guy and secondly as the machine hasnt been lola inspected i dont believe. So i have declined unless i am trained and machinery and operator is also appropriately trained.

Telehandler cages are not approved for planned work unless adapted so they can be operated from the cage and of course they need to be LOLER inspected

[s o c]

Totally unacceptable working/employment conditions.

if, God forbid, you have an accident doing this kind of work alone, I’m not sure your employers insurance would pay out as industry best practice not observed.

if you get badly cut or crushed you only have minutes .

Sorry if this sounds harsh 

[Sirius]

1 hour ago, aspenarb said:

We run a no lone working policy where possible, on the occasions where this is not possible and  phone signal is crap we have a six station long range walkie talkie set up that we use, our guys are using it more often now to save beating up their phones. Its good for about four miles and will pair up with helmet comms.

 

Bob

Yeah i really dont like lone working for safety but love it on a personal level.

But even if i have a radio if i have a accident and cant use it, its pretty pointless...hard call

[gary112]

11 minutes ago, Sirius said:

Yeah i really dont like lone working for safety but love it on a personal level.

But even if i have a radio if i have a accident and cant use it, its pretty pointless...hard call

Not an ideal scenario on your own,I work alone always but if I,m a long way off I always make sure I get regular contact from home,a whistle can also be useful as an alarm call,they can be heard for quite some distance

[Stubby]

Get a collie called Lassie . They can be understood by responsible people apparently . 

[gary112]

2 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Get a collie called Lassie . They can be understood by responsible people apparently . 

You not wrong there Stubby,its finding somebody responsible enough or clever enough to understand them,the old one i just lost used to come and find me at work some days if i had left her behind,often a good mile away,would go to the sound of the saw

[Sirius]

51 minutes ago, s o c said:

Totally unacceptable working/employment conditions.

if, God forbid, you have an accident doing this kind of work alone, I’m not sure your employers insurance would pay out as industry best practice not observed.

if you get badly cut or crushed you only have minutes .

Sorry if this sounds harsh 

So what would you suggest to put it right?

 

Our current procedure is call office to state where i am working and ring again when i move sites. Eachtime giving a specific position for operations.

But like you say if it goes wrong i only have a few minutes.