Safety Equipment at Public Demo

[Trinity Honoria]

yesterday, i was delighted i was going to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe WA-- and on the program was the "International Lumberjack Competition." WOW!!! to be around the sound / smell of chainsaws! To get to see some of the events i'd seen back on the east coast and hopefully new ones as well... WOW!

so i got to the bleachers early... and saw pole climbing, log rolling, axe throwing, springboard, underhand, crosscut, and a few others. 5 men 'competing'-- but not a set of chaps in the ring; no ear protection, no eye protection.

after the lackluster show, i went up to the Emcee, a lovely lady married to one of the men-- and said, "I am new out here to the PNW... i used to go to competitions back east, both formal and informal, and i am very confused-- why no safety equipment?" she asked what i was talking about and i replied, "no chaps, no ear or eye protection."

Very coldly she looked me in the eye and said, "We are only a demonstration. We aren't required to use it. We don't need it."

To which i said, "That's funny-- you can cut your foot off demonstrating an axe or saw just as easily as you can in a competition."

OK, so i continue to win friends across America <sigh>. The Emcee said two of the men had won international titles in the past, so i don't imagine they are uninformed... anyway, i was bothered by the lack of PPE-- and i only saw Stihls being used, so i ponder if it is a sanctioned demo...

anyway, just babbling from the PNW!

 

[Blakesmaster]

Up at the Boonville competition last week I saw the same thing...sorta. Chaps and ear pro were used for the hot saws but most of the guys were wearing sneakers for everything and only the work crew had on hardhats, none of the ax men. Didn't really bother me, I just thought it odd.

 

[Billy_Bob]

I took my string trimmer over to a friends house for him to borrow. I also took eye goggles for him to wear. When it was time to start working, he picked up the string trimmer, but not the goggles...

I said "Don't you want to wear eye protection?"

He said "I'm a logger, I don't wear safety equipment!"

Well it was not long before he got something in his eye. This happened several times. No lasting injuries though.

Then repeat of the same exact thing the next year.

That same year he borrowed my chainsaw. I also gave him all the necessary PPE (which he did not wear any of). He cut his leg the first day (not bad) and decided to wear the chaps the second day...

Then the third year he borrowed my string trimmer, same situation, but this time he picked up the safety goggles and put them on!

So they CAN learn... Just takes awhile! The locals call this the "Logger Mentality". I think they don't want to do something that everybody else is not doing (wearing PPE). I call this the small town "follow the leader / clique thing". It all goes back to high school and still hanging around the same people from high school. If you do something which the "group" is not doing, you will be ridiculed and shunned.

(I could care less myself. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm wearing chaps, hardhat, earmuffs, face shield, and chainsaw protective gloves.)

FYI - The tree service guys around here (the guys with the bucket trucks) always can be seen wearing PPE.

 

[7sleeper]

I know that problem with friends using angle grinder and arc welder without eyeprotection! I mean whatfor? The steel bits can be removed from the cornea(eyebal) with some luck and the ultraviolet arcs make a nice sun tan on the retina(the "seeing" skin in the eye) maybe some sun burns but hey who cares right?

Just for the information steel pieces embeded in the conea require grinding out by an eyesurgeon because if you don't the "rusting" will cause permanent eyedamage in form of blidness. And sunburns are non treatable on the retina.

O well as everyone prefers!!!

7sleeper

 

[Cheese]

Not to cast a short glance on this, but of the competitions you listed, I would wear chaps for none of them.

In the chops, the most relevant safety gear you won't see. Chainmail goes in shoes and under pants so the casual observer wouldn't know.

Chainsaw chaps do nothing for crosscut sawing, so no worries.

I feel like eyes and ears are at a person's discretion, not wearing chaps is just silly, working, competing or otherwise, especially when in the public eye.

 

[Blakesmaster]

Chainmail? Really? That's kinda neat in a medieval way. Thanks for sharing.

 

[stevethekiwi]

chainmail




cool!



.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I feel like eyes and ears are at a person's discretion, not wearing chaps is just silly, working, competing or otherwise, especially when in the public eye.

Yep. Chaps, helmets, muffs, motorcycle helmets, seatbelts, whatever. Wear 'em or not, I don't care.

I figure everybody has the right to be stupid, as long as they accept the consequences of their decisions. No public dime patching you up or keeping you on a breathing machine because you splatted half your cranium.

 

[Gologit]

Yep. Chaps, helmets, muffs, motorcycle helmets, seatbelts, whatever. Wear 'em or not, I don't care.

I figure everybody has the right to be stupid, as long as they accept the consequences of their decisions. No public dime patching you up or keeping you on a breathing machine because you splatted half your cranium.

Well said.

 

[Lakeside53]

chainmail




cool!



.

Until it rusts solid while you're sleeping off a bender:greenchainsaw:

 

[Lakeside53]

Yep. Chaps, helmets, muffs, motorcycle helmets, seatbelts, whatever. Wear 'em or not, I don't care.

I figure everybody has the right to be stupid, as long as they accept the consequences of their decisions. No public dime patching you up or keeping you on a breathing machine because you splatted half your cranium.

no no.... not the no-helmet crowd - they are the primary source of organ transplants... Doner-cycle - crushed brain stem, organs fine... machine breathe until we need them :greenchainsaw:

 

[Philbert]

Chainmail? Really? That's kinda neat in a medieval way. Thanks for sharing.

Meatpackers wear stainless steel chain mail gloves and aprons in some plants. They work with edge tools like knives - I wouldn't recommend them them for moving cutters like chainsaws.

I missed the chainsaw competition at today's Minnesota State Fair (only saw pole climbing and log rolling, er, falling), but the chainsaw carver at the Jonsered booth was wearing full wrap chaps. They looked well used, too, not like something he put on for the demo because someone made him.

Philbert.

 

[Cheese]

When our school hosted a logging competition, collegiate level, we made sure whoever was running the work saw had chaps on, even if only for one cut. It just makes sense, being in front of a crowd, setting an example, etc.

Chaps in competition are usually required for bucking events, but not for OP.

When working, I wear chaps, ears and eyes plus a brain bucket. I am a lot more productive with both legs attached in the field instead of bleeding out at the hospital, others may be different.

Chainmail saves toes/feet, but leaves a bruise and is hell on axes.

 

[Trinity Honoria]

When our school hosted a logging competition, collegiate level, we made sure whoever was running the work saw had chaps on, even if only for one cut. It just makes sense, being in front of a crowd, setting an example, etc.

Chaps in competition are usually required for bucking events, but not for OP.

When working, I wear chaps, ears and eyes plus a brain bucket. I am a lot more productive with both legs attached in the field instead of bleeding out at the hospital, others may be different.

Chainmail saves toes/feet, but leaves a bruise and is hell on axes.

I guess the people I spent time with in the East, and here in the PNW, are both 'self-preserving' and interesting in 'educating' then the folks i saw at the fair... and many of the folks at the GTG at Bookerdog's were loggers... and still used safety equipment... it was just since a different attitude, it caught me by surprise...

your ears don't care if a running chainsaw is competing or demonstrating-- the sound can be just as damaging...

 

[Saw Bones]

Yep. Chaps, helmets, muffs, motorcycle helmets, seatbelts, whatever. Wear 'em or not, I don't care.

I figure everybody has the right to be stupid, as long as they accept the consequences of their decisions. No public dime patching you up or keeping you on a breathing machine because you splatted half your cranium.

Thats what I call job security

 

[Gologit]

I guess the people I spent time with in the East, and here in the PNW, are both 'self-preserving' and interesting in 'educating' then the folks i saw at the fair... and many of the folks at the GTG at Bookerdog's were loggers... and still used safety equipment... it was just since a different attitude, it caught me by surprise...

your ears don't care if a running chainsaw is competing or demonstrating-- the sound can be just as damaging...

Good point. If I'd started wearing hearing protection back when it was considered "sissy" I probably wouldn't be answering every attempt at conversation with "WHAT"?

 

[carvinmark]

Good point. If I'd started wearing hearing protection back when it was considered "sissy" I probably wouldn't be answering every attempt at conversation with "WHAT"?

What??? Oh ya, +1. Same for me.

 

[A. Stanton]

Not the same, but related, watch the pro's in the local trades, like carpentry and landscaping, even on TV. I hardly ever see eye protection. I'm reminded of a friend of the family who traveled to China and saw all the workers in the factory wearing eye patches. The friend asked the factory supervisor, "What is up with all the eye patches?". His reply was short and to the point: "Safety glasses $2, workers $1."!