What happens when the lad has a go !

[Pete Hart]

Wow! That must have been pretty scary when that went CRACK... however as mentioned above, a very important and serious example of what can happen when doing this job. I hope your lad will take on board exactly what happened so that next time it can be avoided!

[Mesterh]

 

Nice1 for posting that up.

 

Not the type of experience I think anyone should have though!

 

In that i mean learning from ones mistakes etc.

 

Apart from other stuff mentioned it looks like the back cut was also too low to me.

 

 

Glad he just got a nasty freight and nothing more.

[bjam1964]

Out of interest, which type of course is the student on?

& do you happen to know how much saw time they are given at felling?

 

I believe it is a two year HND course/foundation degree - will have to check.

 

We had spent many hours practising felling techniques (simple and advanced) in our woodland and various domestic gardens - the lad was given every suitable tree to fell.

 

At the time of felling I was comfortable with his level of experience and he stepped up to the mark to conduct the fell. There were other mitigating circumstances: the customer was watching and had requested that the tree was felled away from his daffodil bed. The hinge was too small. The wrong type of cut was used for a leaning a tree (dog tooth would have made the grade) and in avoiding the daffodils too much was asked of Ash.

[David Humphries]

I believe it is a two year HND course/foundation degree - will have to check.

 

We had spent many hours practising felling techniques (simple and advanced) in our woodland and various domestic gardens - the lad was given every suitable tree to fell.

 

At the time of felling I was comfortable with his level of experience and he stepped up to the mark to conduct the fell. There were other mitigating circumstances: the customer was watching and had requested that the tree was felled away from his daffodil bed. The hinge was too small. The wrong type of cut was used for a leaning a tree (dog tooth would have made the grade) and in avoiding the daffodils too much was asked of Ash.

 

thanks

 

Has he had the nerve or the oportunity, to get "back in saddle" since that experience?

 

 

 

.

[Pete Hart]

good point monkey-d.... the lad will no doubt have taken a big knock in confidence, and getting stuck into a few more cuts will help build it back up.

I should imagine the pressure of the customer standing there watching didn't help him at all either!!

[Littletree]

Poor lad I can just imagin the customer watching, the boss watching, the other lads watching, he must of been really scard and then it happens. having an audiuance is more scary then doing the job itself.

 

for me still being a new to it even with the little trees i fell I hate anyone standing close watching me.

 

hope you all help him stright away to do another and make sure he does not loose his confidence that would be a real shame if he did. if he does another one stright away and it goes well he will feel so much better even if its a small one .

 

all the best

Littletree:001_smile:

[Leyburn Lad]

An Accident

Short term and long term affects

 

Date 4th of July 1980, time approximately 12pm that is the time when Alan Smith had a life changing experience. Set off to work on a clear fell site on a local estate in North Yorkshire, the day been no different to any other whilst they had been working on the site. Arrived on site at about 8am with two other contractors, general chat on every day things and previous days work, fuelled saws, picked out there area of work for the day and set off on there way into the wood for a days felling.

The site was predominantly mature ash which was been cleared in some areas and thinned out in others depending on clients needs. It was for the majority of the time on a very steep bank leading to a small stream in the bottom of the woodland, access was from the hill top which in turn was about ¼ of a mile from a farm, the only access at the time was from the farm to the wood across several grassed fields.

The trees on the steepest part of the slope were been felled and left in an uncut state to be winched out at a later time in the week, they had looked at this as been the safest option due to the severity of the slope to the stream and the size of timber. The average age of staff on site was 36 years old and all had a good 10years experience of dealing with these types of sites on a daily basis.

At around 11.30am Alan started to fell some of the larger ash trees on the steep slope ready for extraction later on, whilst carrying what had generally always been a basic practice in felling trees, the tree he was working on Barber Chaired (trunk Split up the centre) this in turn caught him just below the rib cage and launched him upwards for approximately 10ft, on landing his legs became partially folded up his back and his right arm twisted violently out of its socket.

The guy nearest to where he was working witnessed the whole incident and went to his aid, on realising the severity of the situation he then summonsed the other cutter over, now the drama of what had just happened kicked in, they had 18stone of man on a hill side in a critical condition and not the slightest idea how or what they could do. The second man took off across the field to raise the alarm at the farm ¼ of a mile away, on arrival at the farm there was no answer, he then made his way down to some farm workers cottages, and another ½ mile down the road where he finally managed to summons some emergency services.

Ambulance arrived at the farm, and the next problem arises, how to get an LDV ambulance across a wet field. They had no option but to go back in the works truck that the chap had taken when going for assistance and use this to ferry Alan back to the ambulance. All the time this is going on the casualty has now slipped into shock with the injuries and pain and is heading towards, drifting into a coma.

Once the casualty is loaded into the ambulance the nearest A&E is 30 miles away, the rescue crew decide that there only option now, for any chance of survival, is to try and get to the local army hospital in the near by army camp approximately 5miles away, this is instantly agreed by the army on route.

On arrival at hospital Alan has now gone into a coma, two punctured lungs are causing massive problems for the

Airways along with severe internal bruising and multi broken ribs plus the potential of head injuries.

 

At about 3.30pm I was as per usual awaiting a lift from my Father home from school, he was always a bit later than he said, that was one of his traits, so when Peter one of his work staff pulled up that was no surprise, usually meant he was finishing a site some where. Peter told me he was running me and my brother down to the local hospital where my Mother was waiting with my younger sister, he explained Father had a bit of a bump with a tree and they had taken him into hospital.

On arrival we were met by my Fathers Brother who took us of to a small side room on the intensive care ward, several minutes later my Mother arrived with a Doctor. To say she looked white was an understatement, I will never forget that look for the rest of my life, we were all sat down and the doctor explained the injuries and possibilities of my Fathers survival from the injuries incurred from the accident, basically the next 24hrs would be make or brake really and even if that was overcome the survival chances were slim with a strong possibility of severe brain damage and disablement.

He stayed in a coma for another 4 months, on coming out of the coma he then picked up a flu virus due to his immune system been shot to bits, this resulted in him been rushed back to intensive care and having traxomitry carried out on his throat to aid his breathing (A pipe is inserted through the windpipe to aid the breathing due to swelling of the throat). With in twelve months he started to walk with the aid of a stick for short distances, his left arm became fully functional but the right arm which had been torn out of its socket became a lifeless limb that never functioned again. The internal injuries would shorten his life expectancy due to the trauma they had received. Depression then became the next obstacle to overcome, this entailed not sleeping, flashbacks to the accident, dreaming of a fully functioning body and waking to find your right arm is still paralysed. This took hold for over a year and came and went for the rest of his life.

 

When something like this happens, you some how, after a time accept it and carry on, the two guys he worked with left the industry and moved away to different parts of the country, Father started up a small tree company again for which I worked along with my brother, this finished after a couple of years due to his worsening health and he finally passed away in 1998.

 

Been the oldest of the family I had the main role of organising the Funeral along with my brother, I phoned around all his old friends past and present and the two guys who had been with him that day in the wood, and this is when it hits home, how long does an accident affect people involved ?

 

The Bearers were arranged, all from his forestry days, most supporting some sort of old scar from there days in the woods, going from a leg missing down to a thumb missing. Working in forestry in the late sixties through to the late seventies, if you spent an average of 20yrs on the tools on average you would have three major accidents (sourced from the Timber Trades Journal 1979 found when clearing out the old saw shed at my Mothers).

 

The last two people to contact were the two staff on site the day of the accident, after a few phone calls they were traced to Nottingham and Doncaster. I managed to contact the older of the two who informed me that he was still in contact with the other man on a regular basis. He agreed he would get in touch with him and phone back, several hours later and I received a call that brings home the devastation an accident causes not just to the casualty but to all those involved. They sent there condolences, but still could not forget the trauma of that day in 1980, they still felt at fault for the accident and dealing with the incident itself. There was no more they could of done on the day, but as they kept saying did they miss something, should they have left the work and gone about it another way, whose to know but these guys carry that emotional scarring around with them all the time.

 

 

Break down of the accident

 

So what went wrong on site, what was missing on site and what should have been there on site?

 

No risk assessment ( never heard of, another 20 yrs before they would be common practice in small arb firms)

No Method statement

No emergency action plan or site brief on the morning of work ( worked together for years, Complacency)

No first aid kit, just the usual bottle of water for dust in eyes and a few plasters for file cuts when sharpening saws

No PPE worn, again small companies did not use it and what was on the market was next to useless to work in.

No first aider on site

No work instruction

 

 

At the time of the accident such things as best practice were passed on from experience in older hands on site, AFAG, NPTC and other Governing bodies did not exist, even the likes of the Arboriculture Association were still in there infancy. Even at this stage health and safety was poor in relation to today’s standards, this was not through ignorance just lack of knowledge among the many in the industry.

 

 

 

2009

 

NPTC, AFAG, HSE, Arboriculture Association and LANTRA are all there now, giving relevant training, guidance and rules to aid us towards a safer work place.

 

 

No excuse for having no risk assessment or emergency action plan on site, a team brief now should be second nature to a team leader to give out and no team member should start work with out a site brief.

 

 

PPE in the last ten years far out exceeds anything from the past and only gets better as we move on, it is light comfy and useable in all types of tree work.

 

 

No site would start work with out having a basic team first aid kit on site and at least one first aider if not multi first aiders on site.

 

 

The equipment and procedures in place together with modern training in today’s work place should eliminate any potential of accidents on site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally does an accident affect you forever, whether the injured party or not?

 

YES

 

Daughter married in 1999, no father to give her away.

 

First grandchild 2001, minus one Grandfather.

 

Mothers 60th, celebrated as a widow.

 

Still haunted by that hospital side room 4th July 1980.

 

 

Married my wife in 2001, spare place at the top table.

 

Grow up fast and learn to chuck a good right hander, end of the day your dads a cripple.

[elicokiz]

Hi Bjam, just out of intrest what procedure did you use to safely remove the chair from the stump?

[elicokiz]

An Accident

Short term and long term affects

 

Date 4th of July 1980, time approximately 12pm that is the time when Alan Smith had a life changing experience.

 

Thanks LeyburnLad , Thats a powerful and moving account of how accidents effect everyone from the victim, to colleauges and especialy to loved ones. I know it is a highly personal account relating to your fathers incident but could I possibly photocopy your post and allow my Arb students the opportunity to read it. It may avoid others having to endure the hardship and trauma that you and your family had to go through.

 

Respectfully yours

Dave

[Ian Leach]

He was very very lucky to not have his head taken off to be honest, thanks for posting the pics and let it be a lesson to the newbies out there.

 

A few questions tho, Why wasn't he advised to do the dog tooth cut ?? or told his back cut was to low or his gob not deep enough??

 

Seems like he was left to do his own thing ??

 

I don't do much tree work now as gone down other avenues but i just to love to pass on my knowledge and spending time to show them how to hold the saw and explain the risks of what would happen if a normal felling cut was used. but now you have got pics to show them in the future . Even now if someone came up to me at a show i would give them a lesson

 

Again lucky glad no one hurt