PPE (possible tree services thread)

[clearance]

hc-that is crazy it will never happen again. A very high up manager with our utility came out to a job to see the men and mingle, you know rah, rah, rah some trinkets with logos and all that for the peons. When he got out of his s.u.v. he put on a hardhat with a chinstrap, and immediately and totally lost for all time whatever credibilaty and respect he thought anyone had for him. We laugh about that kind of sh&t. too funny.

 

[hobby climber]

I hear ya clearance, to some degree I believe that rules and laws are for people who dont have common sense! For everyone else, its to protect us from the unexpected. JMO , HC

 

[Tom Dunlap]

On Saturday I'll be staffing an aerial rescue workshop in Colorado. There will be close to fifty people there including fire fighters, EMTs, rope rescue and lots of arbos. I'll make a head count to see how many have chin straps. I'll bet that 100% of the non-arbos have chin straps and probably more than half of the arbos do too.

Laugh all you want, those of us who wear chin straps and expensive helmets can't understand why a person wouldn't want to do whatever they can to protect their hairy computer.

 

[P_woozel]

I've always worn a helmet in a tree, even used a Joe Brown, talk about hot. It seems so simple you are working aloft things are a little more exposed, you need to insure that your skull does not get crushed. A chinstrap KEEPS the helmet on your head thereby insuring that your head is covered all the time. I,ve never had the chinstrap hang, choke or otherwise affect me.

 

[Stumper]

I wear Gloves, Safety glasses. Hardhat/helmet and hearing protection.- Always. (I do pull the hearing protection off when things are quiet) I wear a facescreen most of the time. I wear chaps when stumpgrinding and when operating a chainsaw extensively on the gound.( I don't don chaps for just a few cuts).Steel toed boots are a sometimes thing for me.My saddles are in good condition. I use climbing ropes that are in good condition and designed for climbing.

We can and do argue about chainsaw pants and chaps in hot weather but I am amazed at all the people I see operating saws without glasses or hearing protection.

 

[jason j ladue]

hey guys, i was just making a joke- you know that right. i'll have you know, though, that before i began checking this place out, i didnt use a helmet. actually, none of the companies i worked for ever really required that i wear a helmet! it was rarely mentioned. i never really talked much to other climbers- certainly nowhere near as much as i do here. now i wear it all the time (@ least while i'm working). it's actually comfortable. i like my hat. i think it's a pretty cool piece of equipment (okay, now i'm sounding dorky).
i took a bit of an unexpected swing recently during which i got jerked around pretty good. nothing serious, but i guess it had the potential to be injurous. anyway i was suprised the helmet stayed put. the ear muffs really help to keep it on. sorry about my poor-taste in an attempt at humor. keep on rockin boys- keep it safe...

 

[PRUNER 1]

you guys make me chuckle. you keep talking about bein safe and having a plan, yet you are all willing to work a tree with a chainsaw in jeans or trousers. is it not a fact that accidents happen. why risk not wearing chainsaw trousers? i wont go into a tree without them, ive never cut myself touch wood and am very safety conscious where saws are concerned, but at the same time i would never risk it. i dont understand you all!

 

[lxt]

basically my thought is this is america!! land of the free! I wear safety equip. personally. but I know those who dont! the thing is this if ya wear fine, if not noone to blame but yourself. chaps on the ground absolutely in a tree, ahh ??? not me! and lets face it most accidents aloft are falling, falling from cutting rope, spiking ones self and hazards such as bees, etc.... saw kickback does happen but less than 5% to lower extremities. above all approach work safe & be safe. Doug LXT

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've never wore chaps in my life.

I've cut my knee once, 5 stitches.

They woulda stopped that.

 

[pantheraba]

When I first started working for a real tree service in the 70's we did not wear helmets.

Sometime in the 80's I helped remove a pretty big oak tree close to our church. A construction fella (church member) and I teamed up to do it. He brought his crane, I brought my gear and we had a great time. I had never ridden a hook so that was a new way to get up in the tree.

He sent up a big nylon web choker (maybe 4-5 inches) and I choked off the top and cut it. He deftly barely rocked the top and it picked right up and he lowered it down...no fuss, no muss, not the usual monkey-flipping ride I was accustomed to. The interesting part was when he brought the hook back up to get the next chunk. As I turned around to check the hook’s position, it was about two feet from my face and moving pretty fast. I bobbed and weaved like Cassius Clay and it missed me. I got a helmet right after that. I now use a Stihl with earmuffs and flip-down wire mesh eye protection (the mesh is so-so...sometimes small chips still get through...I plan to start wearing Rec-Specs with it). It comes without a strap.

I added a chin-strap and use it all the time. As much as I look down and all around I couldn't keep it on otherwise. And the story above about banging your head more than once in an accident is a good one...it ain't over 'til its over.

I also carry a first aid kit on my belt with a pressure dressing in the very top. ..and some standard bandaids and tape for the small cuts that just want to keep on leaking sometimes.

Accessability to a pressure dressing is an issue...I like the idea of keeping one in the helmet, never heard of it before...then Tom has to point out that it may reduce the helmet's efficiency. Oh, well.

 

[Big A]

Interesting! Over here in uk PPE is mandatory in any professional company, Health & Safety Dept would throw the book at anyone not wearing it, and God help you if anyone has the misfortune to have an accident. Hard hat, gloves chainsaw pants personal first aid kit, chainsaw boots or spats with steelies (yuk!) for starters, that's just for ground crew. I even heard a couple of summers ago of a climber getting pulled by H & S for not wearing a shirt up a tree, the reason given was protection from the sun! I didnt even know that was a no-no, Nanny State at its best. Personal 1st Aid kit should not be carried in the hard hat, apparently it prevents the webbing from absorbing the shock of impact and transmits it to the skull, well thats the reason I was told when training. Personally I would wear the kit whatever the weather, but it is soooo hot in the summer, and our summers are cooler than yours in the States so I can see your point. I think there is more chance of heat exhaustion sometimes than any other hazard!

 

[Crofter]

I had to wear a chin strap for the first time while working in a reactor containment vessel. The main reason was to prevent possible loss of the hard hats into hard to recover places. I found out that with the chin strap on you dont have to crank the headband down as hard to keep it on your sweaty headbone. After you get over the feeling sissy bit, it really is not inconvenient.

 

[clearance]

The earmuffs that are attached to the mesh facescreen hold the hat on your head quite well. No need to crank it on your head.

 

[alanarbor]

Helmet, Safety Glasses, Hearing protection, Chaps when cutting on the ground. Fall arrest harness with shock absorbing lanyard, for bucket work.

 

[Jumper]

Interesting! Over here in uk PPE is mandatory in any professional company, Health & Safety Dept would throw the book at anyone not wearing it, and God help you if anyone has the misfortune to have an accident.

Most if not all provinces in Canada too.

Standard PPE for groundpeople includes CSA approved steel toe/plated boots, chainsaw pants or chaps (most wear the pants), hard hat w/ visor/muff, safety glasses, gloves, and if you are playing in traffic, a hi vis vest or jacket. Companies that do not adhere to these regs are mostly hack organizations-the pro ones adhere.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

hc-that is crazy it will never happen again. A very high up manager with our utility came out to a job to see the men and mingle, you know rah, rah, rah some trinkets with logos and all that for the peons. When he got out of his s.u.v. he put on a hardhat with a chinstrap, and immediately and totally lost for all time whatever credibilaty and respect he thought anyone had for him. We laugh about that kind of sh&t. too funny.

Heard mentality, just because he has a chinstrap he's uncool and does not rate your respect? How did he come up through the company? does anyone know his history?

The point of a chinstrap is that without one the helmet is good for one bounce, say I try for a big swing to transfer to a lateral... second bounce the helmet is not there.

The attatched pictures are from Jerry B's tree house project, starting with Mr. Beranek himself. It's a 250ft redwood, which fellow is benieth respect?


Potography by N. Araya INC. - Copywrite 2003

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

For PPE we wear sneaker's, jeans,Arron jumper's [home knitted] and hair gel lot's of it you cant be too careful...

 

[matthias]

J ladue its good to hear that AS has helped you be more safety minded. This forum has helped quite a bit in changing my attitude. When I first came here I was freeclimbing everything with a pole strap, topping trees without knowing why or caring and several other jacka$$ habits that I shake my head to think about. As I discovered all the wrong things I did I felt stupid but also proud that I was willing to swallow my pride and do things right.

The other day I was gaffing a 40-50' spruce for removal and had an "awakening". I had my split tail pre-rigged with a blakes but was only using my lanyard to hold me in the tree. I was feeling guilty for not having two tie-ins but thought what a PITA it would be to keep moving my climbing rope up seeing as the limbs were all 6" or less apart. Within two seconds of that thought I knicked my lanyard with the chainsaw as I cut through a limb. Moving my life line up ended up not being such a pain nor did it take that much extra time. If something feels wrong it probably is.

 

[pantheraba]

Fresco sells a nice first aid kit that secures to your saddle. I carry my ascending kit in the black pouch. There is room for a fa kit in there too.

Tom, re: the picture where you showed your FA kit on your harness/saddle (Butterfly)...what are the metal gear loops at various points? Did you add them? I need more attachment points on my rig...only 2 right now...a 1.5 inch diamter ring and a "dog" snap.

Thanks.

 

[pantheraba]

On Saturday I'll be staffing an aerial rescue workshop in Colorado. There will be close to fifty people there including fire fighters, EMTs, rope rescue and lots of arbos. I'll make a head count to see how many have chin straps. I'll bet that 100% of the non-arbos have chin straps and probably more than half of the arbos do too.

So, how's about that count? What were the stats on chin straps?