I am going to take my point a step further, to some extent addressing Skyhucks point that the PPE is there for unforeseen circumstances or accidents.
I intend to argue that some accidents / incidents / events, should not be allowed to happen because the end result is too serious or painful.
An example of an ‘accident’ or in my view… foreseeable and avoidable incident was reported here on arbtalk a few years ago.
A climber descended a tree to clear a limb that was being lowered but had hung up on a stub. It was too heavy to lift so he cut bits off it off. Whilst clearing it he cut his rope below his prussic and didn’t notice, he descended to clear some more and came off his line. He suffered terrible injuries falling on concrete and serious head injuries due in part to not having his helmet strap done up.
Due to the H&S investigation no further detail was released. H&S will (probably) blame the incident on elements of the lowering procedure, helmet straps, lack of secondary attachment, work pressure etc. They won’t spot the actual cause
It is my guess that he broke some cardinal rules which can never be broken if you intend to stay alive or not badly injured. The main one being that he must have become annoyed at having to descend and sort the situation. Otherwise how could he cut his main line and not notice unless he was flustered or hurried in some way.
Because of this lapse in procedure he paid a heavy price. The cardinal rule in this case being ‘never allow yourself to become annoyed/flustered/rushed up a tree’. If , for example, your saw is annoying you because it keeps stalling, then fix it…never get increasingly annoyed and carry on… you will get hurt.
It is my whole argument that safety is about knowing that there are some areas of personal work discipline that must be stuck to at all times. If you allow yourself to become lax on this discipline there are no health and safety regs or items of PPE that are going to save you. You are going to get hurt badly.
I will just throw in as well that kickback, is often talked about and was mentioned by Skyhuck in his list of potential ‘accidents’. There is no mystery to kickback and it is 100% avoidable if you understand how it works and adhere to the kind of discipline I am describing here. Just don’t catch the end of the bar on things. Working on the ground set up logs for cutting so they are clear of other logs. Don’t hold them in place with your foot ever.. the saw can skid into your foot and chainsaw boots won’t save you.
If anyone reads this who knows the guy in this incident then I mean him no disrespect. I hope he would understand that I am using this incident to illustrate a point in order to help avoid future serious incidents (not accidents).