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.

leave it on the forecourt, there ok if your just pottering around etc, but start towing or long runs and the fuel is crippling, no major problems with mine but to be quite honest as a warrior spec it had all the toys but never really used them apart from the rear diff lock, the good thing with the l200 is its low gearing even in high range but the down side is crap economy on long runs 65mph at 3000rpm go above this and watch the guage plummet

Is this something you have had done yourself, just bought one today on a 57plate with bonnet scoop 120 bhp

we use Petzl stops most of the time for the caving:thumbup1:

they were titanium mate, but no there ok just fancy a spare set for back at home when all the other gear is back down south

What do you want for the bashlings and wrap round pads, bearing in mind I have always been fair with my prices:thumbup1:

Now then, looking to replace my L200 warrior with something a little more newer, tryed looking for a Isuzu denver, but more chance of finding santa, so settled with getting a Hilux again wanted a 3.0 but any that are half decent seem way out of my price range (tight yorkshire man) Settled on a Toyota hilux 2.5 on 07 plate hl2 spec with arb canopy, i am under the impression they are 120 bhp but after looking at reviews i am now totally baffeled. the pick up has to tow a trailer and tracked chipper, the trailer is one of the tipping bed variety like fountain and tilhill use and the chipper is a 9inch jenson Any tips info etc greatly accepted as i trundle the 4x4 minefield again:thumbup1:

Sorry to hear of your loss mate, lost my old boxer eric a year ago this november, time heals and not many days pass when i dont think of him especially when you see a half chewed combi tin or any thing else he decided needed sorting out we have two new boys on the scene now, they have a hell of reputation to live up to that prederseser left behind:001_smile:

Would be interested in work mate, have cs30,31,32,33,38,39,40,41 ipaf mewp, first aid, ua 1,2,3,5 . around 20yrs experiance in all aspects of tree work live over in the wenslydale area approxs 40mls from kirby lonsdale

ok gents this looks serious and no doubt would occur if in a loose fitting harness, but this accident was not caused by a harness or should i say not by a climbing harness, the actuall injury was caused by a crash in a car competing in motor sport where the passenger shot forward on impact with the scenery, still it shows what happens if you dont wear things correctly:thumbup1:

drop us a pm of rough location and distance willing to travel, maybe able to help out here

pm your details mate and i will pass them onto a friend who is selling one on, he will be at the apf on friday so could arrange a meet if your there:thumbup1:

The ultimate pop to the shops car, via a 20 mile rive first:001_tt2:

Sorry to here the news fella, had a scare my self 2 years ago, turned out to be glands swollen due to a knock on my knee, but scared me enough to go and see the doctor. check check and check every thing now and I would advise every one to be just the same, the male ego towards looking after ourselfs is crap at times but your post shakes u into action Good luck with the op hope it all goes well:thumbup1:

thought us utility arb boys would get it sooner or later:sneaky2: yes it does happen with us on line clearance, but usually on trees that have been paggered over and over again because a grantor wont agree to removal, so we put safety first and use climbers to access the tree when in the past somebody has knocked the topp out or caused other defects which would not be visible from the ground etc, i am quite sure that there are other peeps on here who do exactly the same in our line of work, but on whole if possible we never use them unless it is crucial to do so, and certainly dont do it to aid speed of the job, that is looking for an accident, seen it happen:thumbdown:

last ever outing as a navigator on stage rallying, before the wife put her foot down, best 10yrs of my life sitting in lotus sunbeam, ford escorts upto the dizzy hieghts of a sierra cosworth, last year was competing in this escort with richard pocklington of Motoscope (Northallerton) Ltd Home Page had a try out in a 6r4 with stuart adamson transport but unfortunatly car was sold before i got my hands on the navigators chair:001_smile:

Have a day in my life mate, wife got these to from a rescue center first one is called bailey but yhe smaller of the two is called BJ!, strange looks in the park:blushing :

If you want the top dollars then some times you have to take the rough with the smooth this is our lodging in the south, but 4 nights a week on a camp bed is worth it as we would never get the money were earning back in the north[ATTACH]39818[/ATTACH]

Sometimes past history can hinder finding the right paid job, burning bridges and all that:sneaky2:

Get it checked over mate, we had somthing similar few years ago and it was serious dollars, the fly wheel was moved slightly but that was on a jenson,

Astra van all the way mate, had about 5 now some of which were my own some were company owned, if you can afford the new shape even better as there 6 speed and youi can get the the 1300cc diesel version with euro tec engine = cheaper tax and insurance. If you get the older shape pre 06 beaware the heater hoses perish at around the 90.000 mileage mark, not end of the world but can be costly if left. Shame you werent looking a month ago, this is one we just sold to replace with a 4x4 l200, the lad who has it now may be perswaded to sell if interested