HSE Chainsaw Accident Consultation

[Mr Ed]

, but then I have worked with people who are risk takers but always seem to get away with it,

 

Hey! I resemble that remark!

[Pete Mctree]

Hey! I resemble that remark!

 

You have not always got away with it though. Neither have I

[Peter]

Hey! I resemble that remark!

 

Did I mention any names? :wave:

[Mac McLennan]

I'm pretty sure I have prevented accidents happen in the past.............

 

And........I would be pretty interested to see the ages of those who have had accidents.

 

IMO, I find that as you get older you are able to 'predict' what 'could go wrong' as a consequence of your actions.....not just the obvious.

 

I also take fewer risks than once upon a time.

 

I can relate it to driving....no doubt there are some younger drivers who can drive well/fast .......but do they anticipate what 'can' go wrong as well as an older (not ancient) driver........probrably not.......IMO

 

Of course I am generalising ...and this is not true of all younger climbers/drivers.

[Linda]

If you drive by a work site where unsafe work practices are being carried out, do you as professionals feel some sort of responsibility to let the culprits know that they are jeopardising their lives and the integrity of the industry? Has anybody ever intervened? Or do you take a picture with your mobile phone and drive on?

 

It's tricky, I think. On the one hand you want their client and the public to know that different levels of safety may be employed and that their bloke is way down the scale; on the other hand, can you really be bothered? I mean, if you weren't choosing your battles wisely, you'd end up walking around constantly upset by what's happening around us in our industry!

 

We have a situation here in Outer Space (that's Stockholm..) where one of the larger companies keep having serious cutting and falling accidents, on top of doing less than perfect pruning work. This company employs young, inexperienced lads from UK colleges and mold them into the kind of workers that through the factory like way of working will earn the company loads of dough. The climbers are, among other unsafe practices, taught to "cut and hold" to speed up their work, which, as we all are aware, increases the risk of injury immensely. And, by speeding up the work in this fashion, the company can drop their prices, and so deflate the local market. But what are we to do?

 

The equivalent of HSE have threatened to close down the entire climbing industry because this company keep having so many accidents, but obviously, this being Outer Space, nothing is being done about the company with the problem, mostly probably due to the fact that the HSE does not have a clue what to do or what to look for in their inspections (job opportunity for somebody..). Would you let it slide, keep your head down and mind your own business, or would you try to help the industry progress?

 

(I apologise for hijacking this UK-specific thread for my own personal gain...)

[Pete Mctree]

 

(I apologise for hijacking this UK-specific thread for my own personal gain...)

 

Your point are more than relevant Linda. The working enviroment does effect how an individual works. You rarely get reckless individuals in a safety orientated company and vice versa. The culture of work may be a large component of many accidents

[Linda]

The working enviroment does effect how an individual works. You rarely get reckless individuals in a safety orientated company and vice versa. The culture of work may be a large component of many accidents

 

That's my view exactly, Pete. I've been fortunate to work for and with highly competent and safety conscious climbers and ground workers throughout my 8 year career, which must definitely have shaped me and my work ethics.

 

You know those camps or rehabs that you have for people leaving neo-nazi groups? Where they get help to unlearn everything they were taught by their nazi leaders? I sometimes wish there was a rehab place like that for tree surgeons damaged by companies like the one I described above, so that they could unlearn dangerous work practices, get more training and be released out into society again as fully fledged arborists with great self confidence, self esteem and a smashing personality!

[Steve Bullman]

that'd be good Linda....does seem to be the case though in this trade that the first company you work with shapes you to who you are going to be throughout your career

[Jason James Gairn]

If the HSE were more pro-active with prevention, in as far as policing required legislation, there would be less competition. Less competition would mean higher pricing, thus less pressure. This would make it more financially viable to have less experienced climbers and ground staff working on the jobs (along side more experienced members obviously). I'm an old dog and I encourage our newbie climbers to do as much as is safely possible, I enjoy passing on my experience to enthusiastic climbers and my employer is usually OK with this. Although I still rush when I know the job requires it, I am aware that such rushing is risky. It's difficult not to rush when you are self motivated. I wish I could reject any pressure I feel from management, but it's hard to do so, wanting to please as I do.

I had a major accident after 16 years at the coal face. I got complacent.

[Mr. Bish]

I believe that the best way to stem accidents with chainsaws is simply to criminalize the sale without basic training like CS30

These things are lethal weapons in the wrong hands and they can be baught over the counter from B&Q for £80

 

Ontop of very basic ticket similar to CS 30 there should be a basic chainsaw use part of the same ticket that would include very basic HSE info as well as basic ground use positioning. I would also stick a first aid section in there so that all the potential users get to see lots of graphic pictures of what can happen when not used correctly.