A request

[bmacroy]

Climbing Is Deadly

I have seen just about the worst a man can go through from injures due to a fall in climbing. My Father-in-law was a second generation climber, and had been climbing for 20yrs when he fell 18 feet. A lanyard issue cost him his life and more money than most the people here have ever seen combined. I am not beinmg cynical only honest. When he fell he landed on his neck. He destoyed his 6 vertebrae, broke his 4,5th, and broke his right arm right leg. The trauma from his impact caused a bloodclot in his intestines that resulted in the loss of 20feet of small intestines. They had to take a bone from his hip to make him a 6th vertebrae. He was in the Trauma unit for 15 weeks at UAB in Alabama. One of the best Hospitals in the nation. I was with him when he fell. This may sound a little graphic but it is huge price to pay from the risk involved in climbing. Few field of labor have these kind of risk day in and day out. His total bill at UAB was over 24 million dollars. He lived three years after his accident and died from complications of beind a quadrapeligic. His quality of life was more than anyone can imagine. His total Healthcare was almost 100 million dollars. I have learned life altering wisdom from this tradegy. But for climbing one thing is it doesnt payu enough. For the simple risk.

 

[fireman]

trees

What we do is not a job its a way of life a passion.Only certain people can do what we do for the love of being outside and one being with nature.When the big guy calls are name upstairs it is one with nature and a job we loved to do. Please all be safe and have compassion for those who have made the sacrifice.Its not our job to criticize but help console and learn.

 

[huskykid141]

accidents

No matter how good you are with working around trees your not good enough. A person that has been working around trees for 50 years and a person that has been woking around trees for 50 minutes still have an equal possibility of getting injured.

 

[trimmmed]

Due to the gravity of this subject, we would like to ask everyone to maintain a more professional attitude in this forum.

Keep the comentary constructive and to the point. On the other forums we do allow a lot more leeway in practice then the Guidelines require, but the nature of this forum compells me to ask for greater restraint.

Thanks

Reminder bump

 

[Rickytree]

No matter how good you are with working around trees your not good enough. A person that has been working around trees for 50 years and a person that has been woking around trees for 50 minutes still have an equal possibility of getting injured.

I don't agree with that! I seen a guy with 50 years and he's still going. Make young men look like school kids! And I've seen 50 minutes. First day the kid went on comp cuz he tried to put a piece of wood in the truck and it fell on his widle shoulder.

 

[M.Green - SVTS]

Due to the gravity of this subject, we would like to ask everyone to maintain a more professional attitude in this forum.

Keep the comentary constructive and to the point. On the other forums we do allow a lot more leeway in practice then the Guidelines require, but the nature of this forum compells me to ask for greater restraint.

Thanks

Like you said, due to the nature of this forum. It would be a shame to see someone acting immature in this forum. It's good to see from what I have read through so far that your rule is being followed.

 

[vaclimber]

Keep a healthy fear.

I truly am thankful for this post and those who are like-minded. I was blessed to learn arboriculture/climbing (initially) from two of the best all around arborist this area has ever had. I learned early on to NEVER make a mockery of safety (after having done so). Unfortunately, one of the mentors I mentioned is now dead because he didn't take the time to properly inspect an ivy covered crane removal. The lead he was tied into split out on the second pick and crushed him. His thirteen year old son was the first to see the grotesque result and is mentally scarred. Complacency kills.
Thanks

 

[Ayatollah]

I've learned quite a bit from this section, and now realize I've flirted with disaster more times than I was ever aware of. I'm actually pretty safety minded too. I've had to manage the careless nature of employees in my business, and they often throw caution to the wind. But still, I've performed some of the unsafe manuevers at the root of many tragedies described here. One thing I haven't read about here yet, but maybe because I haven't gotten that far yet, is doing something generally thought safe in most circumstances, and being attacked by some tree dwelling critter(s) suddenly, resulting in the need for a quick and haphazard escape. For me it was a bunch of wasps, but all kinds of animals, bugs, etc are found in trees. Snakes even

 

[formationrx]

avoiding accidents

in 21 years of tree work i have seen lots of people hurt very bad and worse.... some food for thought.... most of the time i have seen people hurt on the job its been from the following:

1. not using enough caution around the chipper or putting wood in wrong/carelessly.
2. relying on junk equipment
3. trusting trees/machines/equipment/co-workers too much
4. look up dummy!/ not wearing hard hat/ somethings coming down!
5. not focused/ lack of concentration/ bull****ers on the job/ lack of awareness of whats going on around them/you
6. if you are working near streets- look out for passing cars dummy
7. communication failure/misunderstanding
8. lifting improperly/misjudging weight/ bending wrong
9. people coming to work not rested; they are danger to everyone on the team
10. dont stand too close to anything; you never know whats gonna happen 100%. know which way your gonna run/jump/kick out
11. improper training: there is a right way to reduce risk; we are not stuntmen
12. poor planning or no planning or lack of organization/supervision-- this is a disaster waiting to happen
13. the occasional stupid client who walks through a danger/landing zone totally obvious

what am i missing? help me out here guys......

 

[teamtree]

Climbing Is Deadly

I have seen just about the worst a man can go through from injures due to a fall in climbing. My Father-in-law was a second generation climber, and had been climbing for 20yrs when he fell 18 feet. A lanyard issue cost him his life and more money than most the people here have ever seen combined. I am not beinmg cynical only honest. When he fell he landed on his neck. He destoyed his 6 vertebrae, broke his 4,5th, and broke his right arm right leg. The trauma from his impact caused a bloodclot in his intestines that resulted in the loss of 20feet of small intestines. They had to take a bone from his hip to make him a 6th vertebrae. He was in the Trauma unit for 15 weeks at UAB in Alabama. One of the best Hospitals in the nation. I was with him when he fell. This may sound a little graphic but it is huge price to pay from the risk involved in climbing. Few field of labor have these kind of risk day in and day out. His total bill at UAB was over 24 million dollars. He lived three years after his accident and died from complications of beind a quadrapeligic. His quality of life was more than anyone can imagine. His total Healthcare was almost 100 million dollars. I have learned life altering wisdom from this tradegy. But for climbing one thing is it doesnt payu enough. For the simple risk.

I often tell people it is a shame that people will pay good money to have someone come fix their toilet or change a few spark plugs and we struggle to get a decent rate for what we do in the tree care industry. I can't see telling a guy to go climb a tree and put his health at risk and not be able to pay him a decent wage. But my question would be are we doing it to ourselves......I mean, people come in to this business thinking they can make money and they go out and charge ridiculously low rates just to get work.

 

[teamtree]

trees

What we do is not a job its a way of life a passion.Only certain people can do what we do for the love of being outside and one being with nature.When the big guy calls are name upstairs it is one with nature and a job we loved to do. Please all be safe and have compassion for those who have made the sacrifice.Its not our job to criticize but help console and learn.

But wouldn't it be nice to make a little more money for what we do and be able to do things more safely instead of taking the risks. I just try to compare our typical worker to a mechanic.....you go get your car fixed and they have no issues charging 85 and hour. I have a hard time getting 75 an hour per guy plus $300k in equipment.......granted I have 3 guys on a crew but they are in danger all day long and they work hard.