AA Teccie (Paul)

Hey Lorry...on with "H&S" stuff eh, I can offer you loads...tee hee! Jokin apart I applaud your positive approach to H&S which, whilst seemingly a pain in the 'proverbial' actually can work to the benefit of a company if the management embrace it and feed that through to the guys...they then have the peace of mind of knowing their employers are genuinely on board with H&S stuff and hence keeping them safe and well to send home at the end of a working day. The other angle of course is that certain aspects of H&S your legally obliged to undertake as part of your 'employers duties' under the Act (HASWA 74, the Health and Safety at Work (etc.) Act 1974,,,but then I'm sure your 'bro' will be up to speed with that. In terms of sources of info for updates / regulation changes etc., I would suggest: 1. HSE website, in general as well as they treework section 2. Business Link website, you can log into the regulatory updates section 3. Arb Info Exchange website (Welcome to the Arboricultural Information Exchange.) which is a valuable source but not terribly active at the moment 4. AA website & newsletter, to a point. We do however post periodic HSE updates directly to AAACs, kinda a benefit of membership. 5. IOSH (Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) website In terms of 'stats' the reality is the HSE don't have accurate figures about industry specific injuries/near misses/fatalities as anything related to chainsaws and trees, including none professionals, gets logged with arb/forstry under the RIDDOR reporting. Not a great scenario and one the HSE are looking to address....sometime! Hope this to be of help...if not post back! Good luck n well done! Paul

Hi Tony, good to hear form you. The answer is 'yes', in theory (and sometimes in practice), the reality is the main opportunity we get to do so is when we undertake the site audit and the opportunities therefore are often limited due to the activities ongoing. This is however something we do place a stronger emphasis on with larger companies particularly where we suspect communication is....'not as it should be'. The reality with smaller companies, particulraly when working towards approval is that the guys are usually well engaged in the process and well aware of whats what, so to speak. Is there anything more specific underlying your question which I haven't really addressed? Cheers.. Paul

Guys, I am watching and listening here. I will caht with Simon 'Risk Assessment' Richmond here but I'm sure he would have taken that into account (Simon is the AA person responsible for organising the show and liaising with the Bathurst Estate). Forgive me but I'm not sure if that Pine was in the car park or in the show, within knoddy's plot, this time but either way I wouldn't have been unduly concerned BUT this conclusion should have dreived from a RA approach. The other issue regarding cars parked within RPZs, the truth is probably we didn't consider that (which isn't good) BUT the soil is very free draining overlying Cotswold limestone and it was rock hard so no, or very little, complaction would occur. Again tho very good point taken on board. Many thanks.. Paul

Great thread, great pictures, great time! Cheers John (sorry ony got to meet you briefly!) and 'all'...well done! Paul

Wondered where I'd left that 'six pack'...your very welcomed guys! Was really great to meet with you both, along with some of the other Arbtalk guys, and put faces to names....hope mine wasn't too shocking for you, ha! I have to say, having had previous involvement with a 'special needs' (apologies of that's not a correct term!) little girl my sister adopted, I think what you guys do (collectively as organisers, doners, and supporters) with the 'Childrens Trust' is truely fantastic...well done to all! Gud'on'yas all. Hope to meet more of you's in the near future. Cheers.. Paul

From my point of view it was great to meet many of you and put a name to faces and 'forum names'....gud'on'yas for taking the time. Thanks for supporting the event and I will personally ensure ALL feedback (thank you) has fair representation at the review meeting. Have a great Sunday all... Paul

Thanks for the feedback Rob will make sure your points are discussed at the review meeting. Perhaps, in part, the poor quality of wood supplied is down to a lack of understanding of the requirements fo timber on our half...dunno! Cheers again.. Paul

That's afair comment and others have said similar things...we have an idea which will hopefully raise the interest levels (can't say too much at this time) Thanks also for the comments re the climbing event, signage outside the barriers summarising the rules would be useful...simples BUT effective, thanks again. Paul

Hi all, I'm really sorry to learn of the pain n sleeplessness this condition is causing, sounds bl**dy awful. I have reduced 'grip' capacity in my r/hand, about 70%, due to a related condition, tynosynovitis(?) which is another type of RSI (I believe). I get lots of sharp stabbing pains in the elbow and numbness in the hand but I'm very lucky in that it don't bother me in the night (usually comatosed on red wine anyway....just to improve my circulation of course!) What lessons, if any, can others learn to avoid these things? In my case it was excessive use, over a prolonged period, of an old Stihl 076 with 3ft bar....oh and very little in the way of AVs, n gloves were for 'wimps' (how stupid of me!) Cheers all.. Paul

Well that's not a bad start eh?....that said 'bl**dy good bacon sarnie is always a good start to the day! See you there. Paul

Thanks for those comments 'Tree Man Tom', glad you weren't too 'cidered up' at the end. Will pick up rest of comments over weekend or early next week...cheers all! Paul

Mnay tahnks Stephen, I've clocked that one! Hope all's well. Paul

Cheers...shhhh! Ha. Ur very welcomed! Paul

Big Joe, thank you for your positive commenst which are very well received and for the time taken to make them...much appreciated. It is 'hard work' and takes much organising (Mel is 'wonder woman' in the extreme!) and we hope to get it right for everyone, well 'the majority', and now we have this valuable link to the industry (THANKS Steve) we can check more often how we're doin. Hope the bet comes up trumps...fingers crossed! cheers.. Paul

Cheers 'TimTree' glad you found the show okay n bought some 'bits n bobs'. Comments much appreciated. Paul

John, 'YUP' I know...but hopefully better late than never! Paul

Hi Alliaria, I'd say so, but seeing unusual things is gonna become increasingly common I think. Many have reported similar unusual findings. I saw a Rigidiporous on Plane in Hyde Park alongside the Serpentine. Keep 'spotting'..! Cheers.. Paul

ALL, PLEASE give me a shout tomorrow, even if it's only to poke me in the eye coz the AA have 'razzed' you off (please lick fingers first tho!) I'll try to get over to Steve's plot (he's over to the right in PLOT T16(?), past the 'ARBJOBs' work climb site) as much as I can so if you wnat to avoid me look out for the rather clean 'AA Hi-Viz' n hide behind the tent! Cheers n see you there (off for some 'shut eye' now as been up since 5.30am n same tomoz....violins anyone???..ha!)

Lee, If you get a few minutes spare I'd really apprecaite meeting you at the APF...that said I'm def there on the Thursday n not sure about other days. As I'm crap at getting back to threads can you PM me when you're going and I'll try to coincide. Cheers.. Paul PS, just thought I should be PMing you really, I'll try now....don't hold yer breath!

Josh, NO thanks needed, for goodness sake that's what we SHOULD be here for...look forward to the 'PM' (that said I'm sometimes not great at replying as it limits me words....that'll never do, ha!) Cheers.. Paul

John, what's your 'beer' n I'll pick you a 4-pack up on my way in? Jokin apart PLEASE don't hold your breath for tomorrow as I can't change much between 'now and then'...BUT I will do my absolute utmost for next time round. Again, as with Andy's post, I'm sorry I haven't seen the feedback form previous threads BUT I have now n that's enough. Cheers.. Paul PS PLEASE give me a shout tomorrow, it'd be great to catch up with you (nearly said I'd love to meet you, whihc obvioulsy I would, BUT better not to say things like that on here eh?...folks'd talk!)

YEP Andy, ur right...'communication' is key and last year we didn't have this valuable communication link with the industry. I sincerely hope it is better late than never and I absolutely promise ALL these comments / views will be feed back this time...coz I'll be doing so first hand. Many thanks for um..! Paul

Josh, I'd luv to, and (very) naively we thought we were, albeit principally through the approval schemes AND offering 'Ordinary' AA membership for £50. BUT they are token gestures, I acknowledge (although certainly not meant as such), somehow we need to better engage and have better representation within the AA for the grass roots workers (who without whihc we wouldn't have an industry!) G*d, I sound like a politician again here...SORRY!!! Any thoughts on how this cabn be acheived PLEASE let me know, I'll give it some thought too. Thanks.. Paul

No worries Johnty, gud'on'ya for helping out yer friends. Hope to see you next time, or indeed sometime before the next show. Cheers.. Paul

Hi 'Big Joe', I look forward to that, please do give me a shout! Paul