Climbing accident, Northwich, Cheshire

[Sviatoslav Tulin]

And one more thing I’m against ,is the cameras on difficult jobs , it is no less distracting as phone when you behind the wheel, it will affect your critical thinking that 100% .

[Ledburyjosh]

On 19/03/2025 at 19:43, AHPP said:

Shows the setup

 

IMG_5076.MOV 1.24 MB · 99 downloads  

 

 

Shows the execution

 

IMG_5077.MOV 329.7 kB · 101 downloads  

 

Jeeeze, that's bad. So so avoidable. Poor lad that's a bad bad day.

[Sviatoslav Tulin]

Is legal aid in this case free in Great Britain?

[Steven P]

Couple of things in this afternoons posts on this - cameras... if you are being recorded it is because you are showboating, wanting to show off. All good, perhaps on a tripod or with a spare groundy who would only be sat in the van otherwise. Still need those looking out for each other to be concentrating and not whether the lighting is good.

 

Working at height... Yup. HSEs first question will often be "Did you need to work at height" - not just arb industry, but if you can do it from ground level then that it best.

 

However he never went up the tree expecting to end the day in hospital, mistake was made, but how do we learn from watching the videos? All good to say "I wouldn't do that" but.... he isn't the first, won't be the last, just he was in video. Is it worth showing the video to your climbers every 6 months as a subtle reminder? I've had no end of similar videos shown at me, different work sites, and they do make you think for a while. Some make a lasting memory....

[kram]

1 hour ago, Sviatoslav Tulin said:

I just see massive compensation coming to help the lad to recover!

 

I dont agree. It would be nice of course (if money did grow on trees 😆) and I hope he recovers well, and quickly. I think he is lucky to have only minor lasting injuries from an event that could have been much worse.  Broken bones usually heal well. I assume his lungs are healing well. Chipped vertebrae likely to give the problems. No limbs were lost, and he could make a full recovery.

 

Tree work can be dangerous. We all know this. Do you think the boss/owner should be bailing him out? Who made the bad decisions? The HSE fines would likely bankrupt most businesses, or atleast cause them major financial problems, and loose jobs for many other people.

Guess where those fines go? Hint, its not to the injured party, not the NHS who saved his life. HSE get it. The climber wont see a penny from HSE enforcement action, atleast in what I have seen of other accidents.

 

The best option is if he recovers, say in 6 months or a year (he can already walk!), that he may still have an employer and a job to go back to, although likely as a groundy or other role.

 

 

[JLA1990]

If I’m honest I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often. The sector is full of  companies winning contracts that they don’t have the staff or experience to deliver on. Answer rely on climbers/staff who will turn up to situations like this and think that’s ok to climb as the onsite supervisor agrees, also helps it will look cool and it will save money/time. A man put his life on the line to cut a tree down and the supervisor ok’d it! The book should be thrown at the company and I hope lessons can be learnt, the key one in this situation - **************** Instagram, stop and engage your brain. Goes without saying i wish the guy a speedy recovery as we all make mistakes, however a company should be structured and experienced to stop people making these kind of mistakes. 

[Tree monkey 1682]

On 20/03/2025 at 16:15, Mick Dempsey said:

I just cannot believe no one on the deck questioned it. 
On a job like that they’d surely be an RA and a method statement. 
Let alone a few guys on the deck with a few years behind them chiming in. 
 

I had someone once, that I was on the ground, he was section felling using a 36" saw (mine) I told him to stop cutting.. And get out the tree, 2ice he cut through his climbing line.. Fully qualified and less experianced than me.. 

He ignored me... Some times you can't tell people. 

[woody paul]

From the video, he was climbing with one anchor point in standing tree, so did he carry on like that or did he in stool another once up higher if so did both fail?.

[swinny]

50 minutes ago, woody paul said:

From the video, he was climbing with one anchor point in standing tree, so did he carry on like that or did he in stool another once up higher if so did both fail?.

Saw this a while back.

 

Anchored I nto something behind... gone up and stropped in. Silly cut. You can see stem and lad fall after cut, weight goes in his rope and pulls him back a bit before his anchor point snapped and down he goes. 

 

Very poorly thought through. Surely the gimps behind the camera on the phone could have forseen this. No support on the hung up stem. And plenty of lads on the ground just watching. No thought of where the hell is the top going after severing....

 

Piss poor all round

Edited Friday at 20:12 by swinny

[Mark J]

1 hour ago, swinny said:

Saw this a while back.

 

Anchored I nto something behind... gone up and stropped in. Silly cut. You can see stem and lad fall after cut, weight goes in his rope and pulls him back a bit before his anchor point snapped and down he goes. 

 

Very poorly thought through. Surely the gimps behind the camera on the phone could have forseen this. No support on the hung up stem. And plenty of lads on the ground just watching. No thought of where the hell is the top going after severing....

 

Piss poor all round

On my phone it looks like the other tree was an ash with a sparse crown (ADB?). That might have been a factor in the sequence of events.