Brits talkin about Brit stuff

[teressa green]

PUWER,are you a member of any other professional forums ,such as ,window cleaners,bricklayers,plumbers,scaffolders,mechanics are any other industry seriously affected by hse,or do you just have a keen interest in tree surgeons,?

 

[puwer]

Teressa,

Arb is my business, yet do keep my eyes and ears open within other industry sectors IRATA, BMC etc.

I'll help if i can.

 

[puwer]

Pruner,

The film "spar tree" you saw is available from the ISA UK&I Chapter: 01215568302

 

[PRUNER 1]

back to the grind tomora boys!!!

 

[Ross Turner]

My boss wants me to train the employees of the company for the Utility Arboricultural qualifications so all he needs to do is put them in for assessment.Going to get paid overtime but nothing else.It sucks what do you think?.

 

[iain]

i think you dont need us to tell you , you've sussed it for yr self

 

[puwer]

Got to agree with Iain on that one, even a unit one is a head banger at the best of times for trainees.

Is he expecting you to teach both the arb and electrical element or will he bring in a linesman for that?

Plenty of work out there for AE trainers/assessors!

 

[Ross Turner]

They want me to train up for all of unit 1,My boss is in NZ at the mo & his dad is running the company so im the only fully qualified member of staff they have got,only one other has unit 1 & he is a waste of space,so thats 3 of the staff untrained & yet they are working next to lines.

 

[Ross Turner]

I also have to train one of the lads up ready so he can sit his chainsaw units 30 & 31,He can fell trees but has been taught different methods & has picked up bad habits, so have got to help him.
He is good at his job & i will help anyone who needs help but i just think im taken for granted.

 

[puwer]

Ross,

If you PM your address i'll put one of our Cs30/31 training packs in the post that will help you along the way. Any queries give us a shout.

 

[PRUNER 1]

what will i need insurance wise in order to carry out tree inspections and loler kit inspections, small business wise? any good advice much appreciated! also best ways of advertising? cheers

 

[iain]

what will i need insurance wise in order to carry out tree inspections and loler kit inspections, small business wise? any good advice much appreciated! also best ways of advertising? cheers

professional indemnity ins

trust ins 0870 4444344
algarve 01483 489291
insurance co + wallet =ouch

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

professional indemnity ins

trust ins 0870 4444344
algarve 01483 489291
insurance co + wallet =ouch

Minimum cost for professional imdemnity ins [for tree reports] will be £1500 and they will want to see a few of your reports and surveys etc

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Ian any development on the ''TWG'' i'm happy to give more time to it if needed. I'd really like to see this up and running and prove to a few people that together we can make a difference..

 

[puwer]

Most of the insuers will want to see your terms and conditions in regard to LOLER, let me know if you need a hand there they are pretty basic points which should be included. Advertising with LOLER generally comes through word of mouth, all our clients are personal reccommendations. Try speaking to your local trainers if they are not inspectors they may be able to pass your name on to their clients, local colleges, students need kit doing and if they have an arb unit they may consider sub contracting the work. Advertise at your local chainsaw dealers.

Take the time to create a good workable recording system (computer programme works for me), along with adequate ways to mark equipment that will last inspection durations. The amount of crap i wade through with inspections is untrue, bits of A4 paper with little knowledge of the difference between MBS and SWL, kit not marked, no inspection sheets provided. All in all when it comes to inspections out there the standard is pretty low.

Set your stall out well, we charge for our inspections and we charge what i believe is a fair price for the level of service you get, i no longer bother defending a price you get what you pay for and our service allows us to educate your workforce and take the onus away from the employer - you don't pay a consultant to create more problems, or when they have left your kit in a huge pile to be left with having to create weekly check sheets, well i don't think it should be like that!

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

puwer I know of 2 loler inspecters in my area and it seems that me and one other firm are the only ones getting our kit checked ,I worked for a council a month ago and the Arb foreman aregued till he was blue in the face that his weekly inspections were all thats needed I told he needed to get kit checked every 6 months by a loler inspector,i left him to it as i need his work lol

IMO loler should send out flyers to all involved in arb work,because from where i'm standing it looks like most aren't getting kit checked

 

[iain]

Rolla
TWG
sorry mate i haven't been envolved recently, the business has taken over, contact yellow fox or unimog they may know more !

 

[puwer]

Rolla,

I think we all know that a good 70% of our industry don't comply with LOLER, whether it be the inspection regimes or the standards laid out within the regualtions. We also know that a good % of the industry have no idea of risk assessment, COSHH, RIDDOR or the PPE regs, it makes me chuckle when i get asked to advise on the working at height regs, i fully applaude anyone making the effort to adhere to these regs but what we all know that give it ten years and i'll be asked "I've heard about some working at height regs are they relevant to me?"

The AA health and safety package was a step in the right direction to address some of the legislation issues and also provide info for people on compliance, it is by no means perfect but it is bloody good start.

LAs' are great, numerous times i have been called in by management to undertake an inspection, before i do i provide the employees with a five minute presentation on what there responsibilites are, we generally hit a wall when we discuss daily checks and competence to do those. "What do you mean my units 10,11,12 etc aren't particularly relevant any more, hey there only ten years old!"

What might be nice is if the health and safety package created by the AA is turned into a one day workshop, covering how to turn the theortical knowledge into practical and how to make H&S systems work and benefit you as an employer.

We ran a one day free workshop in south wales earlier this year entitled "arb awareness" 35 contractors truned up and we spent the morning going through legislation, best practice and qualifications, we then moved onto modern equipment in tree climbing and the pros and cons, the afternoon session covered use of MEWPS and tree climbing demos - all in all it was a good day and i feel those who attended benefited even if all they took away was FSC guides no longer exist.

Mass education sessions like this are cheap to run, you can relatively large numbers of people exchanging a huge wealth of knowledge, i'm hoping the next one in 2006 will cover aerial rescue techniques.

 

[PRUNER 1]

cheers for the info guys. much appreciated. thinkin of goin part time in the new year and setting summat up myself aswell. need to wait on another job first. want to see how that pans out first cos the moneys daft.

 

[Ross Turner]

So will darlo be looking for another climber?