Unqualified chainsaw users

[Brill]

45 minutes ago, Paddy1000111 said:

I've posted up about the worst one I've seen. Unqualified guy, cheapo chainsaw, rips 11kv lines off the post including the transformer. Oil ends up in the stream below and there was a £250,000 environmental and repairs charge. 

Sadly you can't stop them, I mean that guy who ripped the powerlines down was working for money illegally but if it was the farmer who did it then it is what it is. If they felled the tree into the road and killed someone then they would be liable but I agree it shouldn't happen in the first place. It annoys me too, I've spent thousands in training and equipment and someone is allowed to go and spend £100 on a saw and "give it a go". It's not allowed with electrical work or gas work so why should it be allowed with trees. They should have a rule that you can't cut down a tree over say 16ft in a domestic/built up/public area without qualifications or insurance. 

Some people don’t care but there not proffesional and probabley aren’t ticketed and have insurance but I do think one day things will get tighter well one hopes so.

what happens if he felled it and it hit a neighbours house then where will they be well you won’t find them haha they’ll be gone with a new number I bet. And as for no Ppe just be another statistic I went to see to some trees in a paddock the home owner had a go and cut the end of his foot off so his wife made him higher  a proffesional 

[The avantgardener]

My mate recently passed a guy for his small tree felling on his third attempt, the guy had been cutting scrub on the rail for the previous two years with no tickets.

[doobin]

2 hours ago, Paddy1000111 said:

I've posted up about the worst one I've seen. Unqualified guy, cheapo chainsaw, rips 11kv lines off the post including the transformer. Oil ends up in the stream below and there was a £250,000 environmental and repairs charge. 

Sadly you can't stop them, I mean that guy who ripped the powerlines down was working for money illegally but if it was the farmer who did it then it is what it is. If they felled the tree into the road and killed someone then they would be liable but I agree it shouldn't happen in the first place. It annoys me too, I've spent thousands in training and equipment and someone is allowed to go and spend £100 on a saw and "give it a go". It's not allowed with electrical work or gas work so why should it be allowed with trees. They should have a rule that you can't cut down a tree over say 16ft in a domestic/built up/public area without qualifications or insurance. 

Your £1000s in training doesn’t necessarily mean you’re any good at it though....

 

Plenty of two week wonders around touting for work. 
 

There will always be idiots, he could just have easily been ‘having a go’ with a digger and hit the gas main. 

[Paddy1000111]

1 hour ago, Brill said:

Some people don’t care but there not proffesional and probabley aren’t ticketed and have insurance but I do think one day things will get tighter well one hopes so.

what happens if he felled it and it hit a neighbours house then where will they be well you won’t find them haha they’ll be gone with a new number I bet. And as for no Ppe just be another statistic I went to see to some trees in a paddock the home owner had a go and cut the end of his foot off so his wife made him higher  a proffesional 

I do wonder about the rules with PPE. It should apply to private individuals too. Some people forget how hardcore HSE is. There was a story a while back about a farmer who fell off a roof of one of his barns and broke a leg. When he was in hospital he was charged for failing to follow correct procedures by HSE. His farm was a registered business and he was at work, it didn't matter that he worked for himself, they still sued him! 

1 hour ago, trigger_andy said:

Who paid that cost? Did anything happen to the guy? 

I'm not sure. This was going back 2 years and I haven't really seen the farmer since. I'll ask when I'm back shooting again after this lockdown. I know it was a sensitive subject for a fair while though. The guy was Polish, turned up in a Vauxhall Corsa and disappeared just as fast as he arrived. 

1 hour ago, eggsarascal said:

Do you think just because folk aren't allowed (unqualified) don't work with gas and electric?, it isn't just tree work!

Well that's true but you don't see someone inside their house putting new wiring in. Also it may stop a guy who's watched too much Ax men or Swamp loggers thinking "I'll give that a go, doesn't look hard". Also, whilst you don't see someone fitting their own boiler or putting in a new circuit you do see someone in their back garden with a 30ft ash tree weeble wobbling as they get their wife and kids to pull it over with some clothesline they've tied 6ft up the tree. 

[Paddy1000111]

21 minutes ago, doobin said:

Your £1000s in training doesn’t necessarily mean you’re any good at it though....

 

Plenty of two week wonders around touting for work. 
 

There will always be idiots, he could just have easily been ‘having a go’ with a digger and hit the gas main. 

That's true, it does mean that you should have the common sense and knowhow to do a risk assessment. You should also be able to put a tree in the right direction, or have the ability to know "that tree is too big to fell, i'll climb and disassemble instead". It should also mean that you are a registered company and you have insurance. It should also mean you have the appropriate PPE and the appropriate measures in place too. I know plenty of guys who do chainsaw work with no certificates and can fell a tree and climb better than the ticketed guys though.

 

I would also say that someone who is a "two week wonder" can be safer than someone who's been doing it for 20 years. They don't usually have the sun shining out their arse and know when things are too much for them. Saw it all the time in the aircraft industry, new lad sticking to the rules, gets scared and not afraid to ask for help and will actively know when something is too much for them. Older boy who's "top of their game" and has the sun shining out their arse and knows everything about everything. Goes to the aircraft and "does what he usually does" sticking the power on. The hydraulics come on as the electric pump was left on after the night shift did a test and nearly cut a lads arm off. Happens all the time, old boy knows best "I've been doing it the same way all my life", it's caused a fair few commercial aircraft crashes.

 

Same thing applies to the tree industry. Young lad straight out of training. Follows the "plan" to the letter, does all the risk assessments, does all the inspections, thoroughly inspects his kit, works carefully, takes small cuts and is above all safe. He asks the tenants of the house to not go in the kitchen as it's in the fall zone when he's felling and he wants to be safe "just in case". Older guy who knows it all, doesn't check his kit and climbs on a damaged rope or maybe fells a tree in high winds with no guideline- "I've done this all before" but he didn't notice the V in the top that's caused the trunk to rot out in the centre. The tiny bit of holding wood gives out in a gust. Betty is in her kitchen, watching him work with a cuppa, next thing she knows she's under a tonne of rubble as an old oak comes through her flat roof. 

This whole situation can be the complete reverse though. Over eager young lad vs calm professional. It's all a personality thing. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Paddy1000111

[Mick Dempsey]

I positively enjoy the sight of expensive cock-ups from have a go heroes.

 

Helps people focus their minds when they see my quotes.

 

 

[Lowestoft Firewood]

Surely it is the same with almost every trade / industry, people have a go at fixing their own cars, people have a go at painting their house, some people have a go at electrics / plumbing, some people have a go at brick laying, etc etc.

 

Aint ever going to stop it, and as someone has already said tickets dont mean a fat lot if you dont take your time and risk assess properly.

 

 

[gdh]

As long as it's not in a public place people should be allowed to do what they want. It's annoying watching someone do a job badly but if they want to do it or don't want to wear PPE that's their choice.

 

The last thing we need is more regulations in our lives. Freedom to make our own choices and take risks is much more important even if it doesn't always work out well.

[Paddy1000111]

1 minute ago, gdh said:

As long as it's not in a public place people should be allowed to do what they want. It's annoying watching someone do a job badly but if they want to do it or don't want to wear PPE that's their choice.

 

The last thing we need is more regulations in our lives. Freedom to make our own choices and take risks is much more important even if it doesn't always work out well.

Oh yea, that's what mean about rules in different locations. It's a big difference between felling a tree in your garden that can't harm anything than felling a tree on a boundary which could land in your neighbors living room whilst he's watching TV... 

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Paddy1000111 said:

 

This whole situation can be the complete reverse though. Over eager young lad vs calm professional. It's all a personality thing. 

Pretty much cancels out your whole post then .