Paddy1000111

I would say 100% of tree jobs someone needs EL. It's a legal requirement to have with hefty fines for not having it. PL isn't a legal requirement but you would be silly not to!

So if your PLI says that it doesn't cover freelancers/subcontractors then in Scotland it does? They all have it so easy north of the border 🙄

What's that got to do with this? Don't tell me there's a ruling saying that if you wear a kilt or drink peated whisky then the law doesn't apply to you? 😂

I'll ask in the store tomorrow if they have it and the usual "Quando Costo Por Favor". They like peddling aspen!

I'm sure it's not "bad" in any way but I've seen comparisons of the top range oils after 600 hours in blowers and the differences were spectacular. I've not seen any for Aspen, It may be better than the rest but proof is in the pudding. Maybe someone who mills with it and has done an engine teardown or inspection would be able to chime in

I've just never trusted "unbranded" "unknown" pre-mix oils in ready to go fuel. Mostly because in the past the pre-mix stuff was garbage made for home-owners who would have a weedwacker that they would use once a year to find it didn't start. I know Aspen is nothing of the sort but I know what I am getting when I mix it myself

Has anyone got any long term experience with their oil? I really like stihl HP Ultra, I've been buying aspen 4 and mixing it. Mainly because every engine I have run on it has been spotless and I have a lot of spare HP Ultra that there's no point in wasting. Any opinions on Aspen 2 and longevity/cleanliness

Maybe the HGV world is a bad example. I'm not a driver so I don't know that side. My point is Corporate manslaughter is having a member of the public or staff killed by poor management decisions. Your freelance climber making a mistake isn't corporate manslaughter. This is where the buck sits with UK law, when I was fixing planes on freelance, if I didn't torque a bolt up to the manual and the plane goes down then it's my head on the block for up to 3 years after I signed for that job. My manager isn't responsible unless he told me not to torque it up or not follow the manual. It's a sticky business.

Corporate manslaughter is defined by the Crown Prosecution Service as: An organisation is guilty of an offence under this section only if the way in which its activities are managed or organised by its senior management is a substantial element in the breach referred to in subsection. That being said, If you have told your freelancer to drop the log and it wasn't clear or instructed your climber to not check the drop zone before dropping the log then it's corporate manslaughter. If you tell your climber to carry on working and chog stuff down whilst you stop for lunch and tell him to "make sure that the drop zone is clear when your throwing stuff down" then suddenly the head on the block changes as it's negligence. Just being at work doesn't make it corporate manslaughter or my HGV driving friend wouldn't have been in prison. His boss didn't tell him to have a crash.

It should just pull out. You can pull that pipe off that's connected to it too. If you have a vacuum/pressure gauge you can test it. It should hold pressure but not vacuum. If you don't have that then you can blow/suck on the port although you might get a nice taste of fuel. In terms of performance it shouldn't make any difference assuming that it's not holding vacuum or the saw will cut out/run lean.

Which part is actually leaking?

I would get in there and see what is actually leaking first. The breather consists of: Grommet (1141 989 0600) Elbow (1145 122 3900) Hose (1145 358 7706) Valve/Vent (0000 350 5802) All the parts are "two a penny" so you could order them all and just replace the lot if you need it asap or you could inspect it and see what's wrong and save some money. Something could have just popped out of place/chafed through.

I apologised for that later on, I should have said he should check about insurance and he may need his own insurance if he isn't covered which pushes him away from freelancing and more towards subcontracting so would have less of a worry about IR35. I just don't like the whole "Call yourself this and you're insured" attitude that some people have. Especially when you're handing out advice to people who are making decisions that could cost them a lot of money. Equally what I said could have made him rush out and by PL insurance which would have not been any use either.

Even those blogs from treesurgeoninsurance and their insurance guide say exactly the same as I have been saying since the start: Some tree surgeons will be covered if they are subcontracting for other people but this isn’t always the case. You need to be 100% sure that somebody else has insurance that will cover you. You MUST read the whole of the section on Employers’ Liability Insurance – even if you are using self-employed subcontractors

But part of the training and tests when you get your ticket is to ensure your drop zone is clear. If you couldn't see the drop zone and your boss says "It's all clear down here" Whilst looking little Timmy in the eyes then the liability is on the boss. The only reason I bring in other industries is because the arb world is tiny and you don't tend to hear about law suits and cases. What I can say though is the arb world is identical to any other industry as to how insurance works and how the law applies. It doesn't matter if you're up a tree or turning spanners. I agree to the above comment that it is the employers responsibility to insure that the freelancer is covered for public liability. That doesn't mean that ALL insurance policies cover the freelancer as most **Should** All policies and insurers are different. You could have an insurance policy that covers the boss and one labourer, you could also have one that covers everyone and anyone who works for you, it's based on ££££. The original question for all this was "Can I work as a freelancer for my boss" when told he needs to make sure that he is insured, he was told "Call yourself a freelancer and you're covered under the bosses insurance" which is only true if your boss checks his insurance and it covers freelancers and covers all aspects of their work. All I said was to check, not that if your policy says it covers freelancers it's a lie. In regards to it being a companies responsibility to ensure all their staff are trained and experienced that's correct. It doesn't mean they don't make mistakes or no-one would need insurance. This really isn't that hard? There's only two ways this can work- Either: When working for a client you check your insurance situation and have it on paper. You are saying that if you call yourself a "freelancer" you are completely immune to all responsibility at work no matter what happens? There's really no point in emailing an insurer with the question (which I can do if you really wanted) because all this is about is me saying "Check your insurance" and everyone telling me "No need to, you're always covered" which isn't true. We would have to email every arb insurance provider and make sure that every arb policy they offer covers unlimited numbers of staff/freelancers and covers freelancers for absolutely everything including court costs for manslaughter which sounds even more tiring and a waste of time than this thread.. This post Rich? https://treesurgeoninsurance.co.uk/articles/employers-liability-insurance/

I've yet to see a case where someone kills someone and their manager goes to jail for it. It happens all the time in the HGV world. Someone I know went to jail because his bosses pushed him to work a s*** load of hours back to back (still under drivers regulations) and he turned a 4 door hatchback into an accordion with the family inside when there was a blockage on the slip road. His boss wasn't put in prison for working his staff too much even though they complained about not getting enough sleep and the human factor issue. It was the driver driving the truck, it's you with the chainsaw. Insurance won't stop you going to jail but it will pay for good lawyers and may help your family when you're behind bars for the next few years.

Yes, which covers you against being sued by the public for an accident of if a freelancer made a dangerous product as you take on ownership of their work. It means that if your freelancer makes a cock up made by your instructions then your insurance company won't throw their arms up in the air and say "It's on you mate". This doesn't necessarily stop either the employer or the employers insurance company suing a freelancer for negligence or misconduct. Freelancers are liable for the work they provide, they aren't immune and this is where a freelancer needs insurance. If a freelancer makes a balls up and kills someone, your public liability insurance isn't going to cover the court/lawyer costs plus the cost of a hse negligence claim against the freelancer themselves. It's them going to jail for manslaughter not your company. If your policy says that it will cover labour only subcontractors against any and all legal case and will cover all legal costs associated. If it also says that under no circumstances will the insurance underwriter pursue any freelancer/self employed contractor for losses occurred from an act of misconduct/gross negligence then great. I think people are confusing an accident caused by you telling your freelancer to do a job and that instruction causing an accident with an accident caused my a mistake made by the freelancer or misconduct/negligence. It even says in that article under "Employers liability for labour only subcontractors": It is crucial to ensure you have the right employer’s liability insurance to cover the right subcontractors. which is what I have been saying from the start, and I am being made out like an idiot/unexperienced because I said don't assume, check?!

It's C1M carb on that if I'm right? It should say on the side. IIRC there's a jet valve in them that can cause air to be dragged in if it fails. Part 62/6. Or you have a leak somewhere else in the carb, have you pressure/vac tested it?

I'll have a look later when i have time. Let me put it in a different way, your on a job with your groundie and a freelance climber. It's in a residential address, you're cutting up branches that your freelance climber has cut down and your groundie is loading the chipper. Your groundie asks for a hand carrying a log out to the van and you agree, your climber is at this point chogging sections down, there's nothing to hit and there's no-one around so you and the groundie carry the log to the van. Next thing you hear the saw shut off and a load of screaming. Whilst you gave the groundie a hand little Timmy ran out from the house and has just been hit and killed by a 100kg section that's just fallen 30ft. The police arrive followed by HSE, your already having a bad day and it's about to get worse. One of you is going to be charged with manslaughter. According to you, you are the overall responsible person so apparently that's you even though it's your freelance climber that killed someone. The climber you had told the police "I'm a freelancer" and they will have apologized to him for even asking and said he doesn't have to be here so can go home, no questions asked. If this is how it works then I've spent a lot of money on insurance and time checking in covered when using the magic freelancer word.

Yea of course, because I have no experience... I haven't worked as a freelancer/independent contractor for years, I haven't done a 5 year aviation course of which about 2 years focussed solely on law, safety, accountability and responsibility at work, I've not seen guys lose 6 figure sums of money through mistakes whilst freelancing, I've not seen guys get thrown under the IR35 bus before and have massive fines through back tax, I haven't spent the first half of this year fighting IR35 and in meetings with employment law specialists, I've not worked in an industry where a cock up WILL send me to jail, want me to keep going? Sounds like you're experienced in that harness, nip those straps up tight before the reforms because you're going to be in for a rough ride if you mess up. HMRC don't take "I've done this for more years than you can shake a stick at" as an excuse, nor do insurance companies. Before this turned into a 2 day brawl, my advice to the OP was to check his clients insurance and make sure that he is covered and there's nothing that can bite him in the arse. If he wants to take the advice of some guys online who tell him "Call yourself a "freelancer" and then you don't need insurance at all and you're not ever liable in any way for anything" then I'll PM him a good lawyer for when the bailiffs are at his door. There's a reason why insurance companies offer freelancer insurance and it's not because they want to double their income for something that isn't required. At no point did I say that no insurance policy covers freelancers, nor did I say that everyone will be under IR35 (although anyone acting as an employee as a freelancer no matter how long or who they work for will be under it. Take a look at the public sector, you cannot freelance for a public body AT ALL). Everyone's situation is different but making generalisations and telling people that they don't need insurance if they call themselves X is a very dumb thing to do

It wouldn't be the first time this has happened though. What do you call "under your instruction" Are you telling him which bit of the branch to cut, how much to cut off, where to tie into, are you in the tree with him selecting anchor points for rigging, are you telling him what cuts to make? All I am saying to the guy wanting to freelance is to check his insurance position and not just assume. You may read the small print and there may be a whole bit in there about labour only subcontractors and what happens if it's caused by their negligence? You might be in charge but an on site boss isn't even necessarily a qualified tree surgeon and he sure as hell isn't babying him up there. What if your freelance climber selects a shit rigging point and it fails and a branch goes through the house? Is that your fault because your his boss? I sure wouldn't employ a freelancer that I had to tell exactly what to do in every little thing, may as well do it myself. I also think that after the IR35 reform a "labour only contractor" will, under law, have to be on PAYE. This is going to be a major shake up

Considering I am already asthmatic I prefer Aspen, I'm not sure I would notice the breathing issues from petrol mind. I use aspen most of the time anyway. Fingers crossed when I get to the age I really need it I can buy a pair of prosthetic lungs 😂

This is the issue £900 of petrol Vs ~£3000 of aspen. That pays for my accountant, van insurance, tax etc. It's a lot of cash...

I guess the government assumes that if it's in public then everyone behaves but if you are in your garden then everyone starts having an orgy? I mean, who am I to judge 😂

That pretty much covers everything I just said? Your insurance is down to the insurer and your contract. You might not need public liability but this doesn't cover having personal indemnity and it definitely doesn't say that if you mess up as a freelancer you have no liability be it you or your ltd company? If your employer has public liability then the public claimant claims from them but there's nothing stopping the insurer going on a head hunt for you to regain losses? I want to see something that says "if you are working as a freelancer you have absolutely no liability in any way, regardless of circumstances" because that's what everyone has been saying? "You don't need insurance as a freelancer" If I call myself a freelancer and go and work for someone then I don't have to worry about f***ing up, it won't come back to me and I can rest easy 🤷🏼‍♂️ That article also assumes that your policy covers "labour only subcontractors". It doesn't say it's always included?