kevinjohnsonmbe

Based only on what you've described above, the problem would appear not to be the (minor) accidents but the total absence of any redundancy / resilience in the work force! Seems a shame the local management at the time / on the scene couldn't see the benefit of having some cross-trained reserve manning ready to deploy to fill a temporary gap rather than halting the line.

Agree! It works for us and I like it. Lent it to a mate to try before he bought 1 and it didn't work for him - he said it was useless. From that, I'd say it depends on your circumstances. He found that circulating the air drew cold air in from outside via a drafty door.

Boom!

The incentive thing is sometimes worth a try but human nature, being as it is, could just have easily resulted in pressure from within the workforce not to report that which might jeopardise the incentive thus having the unintended consequence of driving down reporting rather than driving down accidents. Not suggesting that was the case but you'll see how it could happen?

Good on you! I got out of the tree yesterday after being buffeted around a fair bit to get home and find part of the chimney had blown off - :thumb down: Did GG have his RB on site?? Still liking that!!

PS, I make that 2-2 now!

I'd agree with Shane! Success in delivering a value added audit which can be utilised as an enabler rather than an obstruction to be overcome is as much to do with inter-personal skills as it is knowledge and experience of legal requirements. Probably the greatest barrier to success is entrenched / intransigent attitudes of potential clients that need to be overcome at an early stage if there is to be any chance of a useful conclusion. I would go so far as to suggest (from personal experience as an ISO 9000/1 auditor in a previous life) that intimate knowledge of the sector (whatever that might be) is not a prerequisite for a successful audit. In fact, approaching an unfamiliar sector allows the auditor to ask simple questions that can break down the barrier between auditor and client. From the client perspective, there is nothing worse than having a know-it-all look at your processes. A softer approach I found much more productive. At a sensible cost there could indeed be a market but travel and subsistence might restrict area availability unless it is networked. As Shane said, I too would be open to a trial examination.

Bit of a "lesson learnt" for myself and (hopefully) a warning for others here. A bit embarrassing really since we seem so preoccupied with tickets / insurance in the arb world. Late last summer had chimneys swept. Same guy we always use. One of the chimneys has the old style 2 slates propped against each other to form a sort of ridge tent effect over the top. I noticed after he'd been & gone that they were pushed apart at the top. I meant to phone him and tell him he must have pushed the brush up too far but was busy and after a day it settled back into position. Came home yesterday after the strong gusty conditions to find the slates and cement render cast off and sitting on a lower roof. I know it's my fault for not photographing it and calling him at the time, but he's a decent guy and I explained what had happened when I phoned him to ask if he was covered under his insurance. You know where this is going! No cover for damage in the course of his work. Can you imagine that in arb?

That's a failing on the part of your instructor. It's there in black & white in the book, you have to ask, did the instructor actually read the book or just trot out the lines that will achieve a (so called) "pass" in the exam? To be fair, there was no mention of stop works in my course/exam, it was only after reading the book cover to cover that I was aware of it! Training / tickets, never going to cover every aspect I guess!

Laughing! Characteristically succinct & direct!! And in the pub by 5 🍻

Pressed send too soon! I'm surprised it's not in common use in arb. You could, for example, rig a branch, deploy stop works as you do the back cut, drop in the road and be cleared away within 2 mins. I haven't done it, and I'm sure someone will find a valid reason why not, but it seems to achieve compliance?

The "stop works" board is different to "stop / go" boards Hodge. It allows (from memory Matt!?!) 2 mins temporary stopping traffic for an unscheduled event and has the potential to be less admin / application / SLG heavy when used iaw the appropriate conditions in the book.

Yes, yes! Exactly!!

I've been looking for ages! Most companies don't even recognise / stock it and I've had to give Red Book page number etc before they know what it is I want. If you find a good source really appreciate a tip off or could do a combined order (I'm only looking for a pair though)

Hi Paul, sound / cautious counsel but might such an "application" start a chain of events that could result in the LA implementing a TPO which would radically reduce the tree owners freedom to manoeuvre? Interesting conundrum!

Circumstance specific, but sometimes useful as a foot step (Haven't watched the vid yet so that may not be the case in this instance!)

Can you expand why a cherry picker is needed? You may unintentionally be "specing-in" kit and cost that isn't necessary. Travelling time to/from a job is irrelevant really since a start time and finish time are easily established. You've asked for a day rate but there is no indication of specifics that allow someone to establish how long / how many in the team. Way to many variables to even consider providing an estimate but good luck!

Really good thread Tom! I remember a topic similar to this in a thread back away about FISA / training etc. One might think the Federation of Small Businesses might take an issue such as this (overly burdensome admin / training / HSE (if it is considered overly burdensome?)) but when I looked at joining, and suffered almost 2 hours of patronising tripe from the local FSB rep who knew NOTHING of the arb sector, did not know how many from arb industry were signed up, with FSB nor anything that might have proved useful or how to deliver it, I decided against - almost had to throw him out of the house in fact! So high accident stats in forestry (a matter of record) (and probably no surprise given some of the cavalier comments about chain brake use in the 'chain brake under warranty' thread) are not identified and separated to a particular sector - if it's chainsaw, it's chainsaw (and that probably includes chainsaw accidents by casual / home users too??) From what Paul describes, it sounds like it's not possible to drill down into professional arb for statistical purposes which would allow targeted training requirements so we all get the overarching requirements. Totally agree that the big boys and training providers are obvious beneficiaries and open to a suspicion of 'icing their own cake!'

I could have a look at it for you, I'm in SE Cornwall.

rtfq?

Easy to say, less easy to achieve! There is politics, in a lesser or greater degree, in a lot of the posts here. Not a squeak, not a mention, not a comment on: BBC News - Oxfordshire arson spree: Fire guts council building But, I'd suggest, this is more extreme, more news worthy, more significant than radical islamists burning flags, flying planes into high-rise buildings or executing hostages. Why? Because that's all 'been there, done that', without wishing to detract from the personal agony of those intimately involved. But it's all quite 'last week', it's what we've come to expect. Who knows anything about this person that filled their PU truck with gas bottles and drove into the council building? Was he just an individual whacko or is this indicative of the what we might expect as the new norm? I don't know if he was a 'Brit' or not, but seriously, Brits don't jump the queue, Brits pay for a TV license, Brits give up their seat for the elderly and young Mums on the bus, Brits hold the door open for the next person. Brits don't fill their truck up with gas bottles and drive into the council office, they dress as superman and protest on a bridge.... What happened here? Why aren't we talking about it??

I've started milling this boy, he's a beauty! Will post pics of the slabs when finished. I think it was Grey Git (not entirely comfortable saying that!) that posted up some pics of slabs on threaded bar as a shelving system in the furniture from log thread. That's what I've got in mind for this if it stays straight.

Shame the tree obscures the wall tie between the stone and the brick.

Is that ivy or algae below the gutter? Difficult to see the detail in the picture, looks like the lower courses of brick have expanded joints but it also looks like ivy penetrating from the inside to outside below the gutter?? Is there excess water logging at one end of the other of the building? If it is safe to assume that it is a former ag building converted to residential, would not the LA (presumably they approved the change of use) bear some liability for approving the change of use whilst not considering the implications of the tree in such close proximity?

Keep us posted! Did you get any of the nuts from it? They're meant to be better than pine nuts!!