# chipper deaths



## spacemule (Aug 29, 2006)

I'm amazed by the number of people on the accident forum killed by chippers after sticking their foot or hand in the chute. So, here's my question. Do you think intelligent people do such horrifically stupid things such as this because of fatigue or apathy, or are the people really just that stupid? I think we can all agree that putting any body member inside the chute of a running chipper is about the dumbest thing a person in any job can do. What do you think?


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## 046 (Aug 29, 2006)

can't stand watching local asphunt workers stuffing branches into a chipper for long. 

reminds me of an accident looking for a place to happen...


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## gasman (Aug 29, 2006)

the biggest killer in all professions is exhausion and production pressure. Even the brightest people with normally good judgement make mistakes when tired. It is not a character flaw, it is a physiologic fact. Nietchze stated "Even the strong become fatigued" That is why we have to be careful and watch out for each other. If you see a buddy do something dumb, tell him. Frequently he will be thankful. Unfortunatley saftey and production can be enemies of each other. Like racing the sun to get a job done.


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## DanMan1 (Aug 29, 2006)

gasman said:


> the biggest killer in all professions is exhausion and production pressure. Even the brightest people with normally good judgement make mistakes when tired. It is not a character flaw, it is a physiologic fact. Nietchze stated "Even the strong become fatigued" That is why we have to be careful and watch out for each other. If you see a buddy do something dumb, tell him.  Frequently he will be thankful. Unfortunatley saftey and production can be enemies of each other. Like racing the sun to get a job done.




I agree.


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## b1rdman (Aug 29, 2006)

TreeCo said:


> It's complacency.
> 
> As tree workers constantly working in dangerous environments we get complacent and then one of our numbers come up.



Spot on...

It's not different than any other industry or dangerous activity. 

I've seen people reach into a frialator to fetch fallen tongs, grab onto live 120v, and heat a frozen fuel line with a torch.

I'm not in the tree biz but I think that the injuries forum
on AS is one of the more valuable ones becuase it allows all of us see what happens when we become complacent.


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## CaseyForrest (Aug 29, 2006)

gasman said:


> the biggest killer in all professions is exhausion and production pressure. Even the brightest people with normally good judgement make mistakes when tired. It is not a character flaw, it is a physiologic fact. Nietchze stated "Even the strong become fatigued" That is why we have to be careful and watch out for each other. If you see a buddy do something dumb, tell him. Frequently he will be thankful. Unfortunatley saftey and production can be enemies of each other. Like racing the sun to get a job done.



Right on the money.

Another factor is the " Lets just get this job done" attitude than can strike when one particular job has been going on for a long time. Safety harnesses, fall arrest, eye protection, ear pretection, and Air monitors all seem to go by the wayside to quickly.


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## spacemule (Aug 29, 2006)

How many people killed in chippers do you think have seen sites such as the injuries and fatalities forum? 

Seems to me that some things would become ingrained and automatic. Of course, this only happens if _the individual_ doing the actual job values safety. This, then, returns to my question of stupidity. How can someone who has anything upstairs remotely resembling a brain not value safety? How can they not train themselves never to stick body parts into a grinder? This is what I don't understand. 

But then again, it's not different from behavior I've observed from the population in general. I've had instances while operating a forklift at Home Depot where customers will actually _*walk underneath a raised load!*_ I get behind people all the time in traffic who will _*stop their vehicles on railroad tracks!*_ I really hate to entertain the idea that people are as dumb as their actions. But more and more I'm beginning to think they are.


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## Lawn Masters (Aug 30, 2006)

the reason you think they are as stupid as their actions is because people are just that stupid. now I'm not saying ALL of them are, just a good lot of em.


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## coveredinsap (Aug 30, 2006)

It is a combination of things.....not any one thing. Some accidents are because of stupidity. Some accidents are because of poorly trained personnel or lack of safety training. Some are because of inexperience. Some are because of fatigue. Some are because of complacency around the equipment. Some are because of being in a hurry. Some are a combination of all of the above.

The bottom line is, if you don't watch your own arse at all times, chance are very good that nobody else is going to do it for you. Safety is a learned skill.

I've worked on jobs with people that were flat out dangerous to be around.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 30, 2006)

Lawn Masters said:


> the reason you think they are as stupid as their actions is because people are just that stupid. now I'm not saying ALL of them are, just a good lot of em.



This one works here... "Stupid is as stupid does..."

In commercial construction you see stuff like this all the time. Everything from extension cords in water puddles, people standing on top of 12' ladders, walking under 120,000 lb tiltwall panels hanging in the air, and on and on. Personally, I don't see why it's unreasonable to expect people to THINK for themselves. However, the reality is, many don't. The worst part is the "competent personnel" on site are the ones that fry for some dumb a$$' action.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 30, 2006)

coveredinsap said:


> It is a combination of things.....not any one thing. Some accidents are because of stupidity. Some accidents are because of poorly trained personnel or lack of safety training. Some are because of inexperience. Some are because of fatigue. Some are because of complacency around the equipment. Some are because of being in a hurry. Some are a combination of all of the above.
> 
> The bottom line is, if you don't watch your own arse at all times, chance are very good that nobody else is going to do it for you. Safety is a learned skill.
> 
> I've worked on jobs with people that were flat out dangerous to be around.



I have to say I agree with you on this one.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Aug 30, 2006)

One of the bigger national companiesdid a study on seriouse injury/fatality compared to time in the industry.

The graph was high in the novis years and then dropped sharply, only to spike back up around 8 years when people had become familiar enough with tools and procedures to become complacent.


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## boo (Aug 30, 2006)

I remember about 12 years ago, I was tossing pine limbs into a whisper chipper when a limb caught my glove and felt like it almost jerked my arm off.
I removed the remaining glove to finish chipping, when another limb caught my wedding band and again felt like it almost jerked my arm off.
lesson learned: get a less dangerous chipper.


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Aug 30, 2006)

I was on a job today running a 14" chipper, when one of the crew climbed up on the feed chute, while the chipper was in full operation, to free some stuck log, to get a better angle at feeding it, or something. This was 5 minutes after talking about the recent chipper fatality in our area. I can't explain it.


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## Bermie (Aug 30, 2006)

Mike Maas said:


> I was on a job today running a 14" chipper, when one of the crew climbed up on the feed chute, while the chipper was in full operation, to free some stuck log, to get a better angle at feeding it, or something. This was 5 minutes after talking about the recent chipper fatality in our area. I can't explain it.



What an.....*idiot*! The mind just boggles. Did you do anything to him?


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Aug 30, 2006)

He is an idiot (or at least was at that moment in time), has a wife, two young kids (3 and 5) and owns a nice home. 
I don't know what he was thinking, and didn't ask. I shut the throttle down as fast as I could (because I was closest to the front of the chipper, and the discussion about what to do in the event of feedwheel control failure was fresh in my mind), which stops the feed wheels after about 2 seconds, waited until he was done doing whatever he was doing, and after he got off, I fired it back up.


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## jazak (Aug 31, 2006)

Mike Maas said:


> I was on a job today running a 14" chipper, when one of the crew climbed up on the feed chute, while the chipper was in full operation, to free some stuck log, to get a better angle at feeding it, or something. This was 5 minutes after talking about the recent chipper fatality in our area. I can't explain it.



Complete idoit. I move the chipper chute if I have to but dont stand in front of it, or try and put my hand near the opening. Plain stupidity.:bang:  I have used Discones' 21" chipper that thing will suck you up in mere seconds!!! Wisper chippers are the worst in my opinion to work around/with. Some things happen that you can't control (at least not the person hurt). I guy's worker accidentally put his climbing rope through the chipper with the brush and pulled the climber out of the tree. The rope was NE High-Vee so it wasn't hard to see, some people are just careless and stupid and in all fairness I wish that worker got hurt instead of the climber/owner of the company.


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## geofore (Aug 31, 2006)

*feeding the chipper*

It may be you should designate one guy to feed the chipper and only one guy feeds it. all the others can drag the brush and hand it off to the guy feeding the chipper. I found it necessary when we had a bunch of new guys on the job that it was too dangerous to let them feed the chipper. They would do any number of stupid things feeding it. One guy feeds it till the others learn the rules to stay safe, dragging brush to the guy feeding the chipper.


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## TackleTree (Aug 31, 2006)

As a chipper owner/operator, i agree that having one trained person feeding the machine is a good idea. The rest can drag and drop. Hopefully the trained employee, (me) demonstrates proper safety at all times. Just the roar of the engine and chipping, is a constant reminder of the power and danger these machines poses. Any one using this or any chipper must respect it. When respect is lost, accidents happen. All it takes for me is to have a branch snag on an article of clothing (outside of the feed table) to scare the sh*t out of me. In my opinion,People on average, are only using their brains 25-30% of the time no matter what the task. SCARY!


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