wounded groundie

[Kneejerk Bombas]

THe saw won't idle because of a broken 59 cent clutch spring.
No wonder the insurance companies take all our money, we are idiots!

 

[geofore]

standing on rope

JPS,
Standing on the rope: Had a guy do that after I had explained to the ground crew to let go of the rope as soon as the limb swings clear of the building and everyone let go and he went flying A$$ over tincups. Pride was hurt but he was okay.

 

[treeclimber165]

My standard instruction for groundies on the rope is : You can wrap that rope around any part of your body that you are willing to lose!

 

[Kevin]

It`s not just the fact that the bar can easily hit your leg in an accident but also the fact that if the chain breaks it`s coming off the bar and can easily whip your legs.

 

[coydog]

my chainbreaks are all in working order, he lost his balance as he finished a cut and swung the saw into his ankle while his finger was still on the trigger. I'm buyin some chaps on monday and subbing out a pro to help me finish this job tomorrow.

 

[geofore]

wounded

Ooch! That had to hurt, did it take his boot apart also? Thanks for the correction. My thought was he slipped while running the saw and walking.

 

[Marky Mark]

Training

Now I don't train people in the tree buiss but I do alot of training in the computer field. I think the first thing is that you have to ask your self is why this guy got hurt. Did you explain to him the way you want things done while showing him, then him explaining to you how you want it done while he walks you thru it.

Why No chaps?? is another question you will have to ask yourself could this have been prevented if he had them on. I know they are cumbersome and akward at first but it is cheap insurance.

When you are interviewing these people are you being selective in your chioce or first guy gets the job he's just on the ground. You might need to look at how you are speaking to these people are you getting your piont across or just hot air. Most people are looking for a job today and the next guy to offer them another dollar an hour there gone.

what works at my shop is hiring someone and after say six months start giving them insentives ie: your out on the job and yousell a computer $50 bonus, just things to keep them happy and working.

We have one guy who had no exsprience who gave up a career to get into computers I just kept blowing him off til he said look I will be there monday morning and work for free after 2 weeks lets talk. Sure enough monday morning he was there, we took bets how long he would last. the youngest guy in the shop gave him a hard time for a while, now 3 years later he's the best in the shop and on the road he's paid 59 an hour from working for 6 bucks an hour. As it turned out later he told us he was working as a insurance brooker pulling down 150grand a year.

Piont is people are out there and they want to work it's you job to figure out how to find them and keep them, hiring someone green might not always be the best for you and them at first but you can find your tree soulmate. they are out there.

 

[xander9727]

I had a groundie that tried to argue with me about wearing chaps on the job. I have a strict rule that if you pick up a chainsaw you MUST be wearing chaps. His rationale was that he had used a chainsaw for years and had never cut himself. Two days later he buried an 036 pro in the chaps. I didn't rub it in his face but he did use the excuse that the 036 is alot different than the 16 inch Craftsman he had at home. After he cut through a bull rope while bucking I afforded him the oportunity to find employment else where. It takes alot of time and effort to find, hire, train and keep good help. If they're injured they can't make you any money. I have found that investing $100-$150 per man in PPE is money well spent. I still can't understand why men in one of the most dangerous professions would chose not to use available safety equipment. I constantly have to remind employees to wear eye and ear protection, gloves, helmets, etc. I guess it's easy to be hard, but hard to be smart.

 

[kf_tree]

mark
thats an interesting story. i once had a guy calling me for a job that worked for a hack and slash company. i just kept blowing him off. finally he called and said he would work for a day free and if i wasn't happy with him he would walk away. he ended up turning into my right hand man. he has keys to my house to check on my dogs when i went away. he had kind of a checked past but he had a kid on the way and was getting his act together. when i sold my business i put toget an old morbark 290 for him at a fair price and now he has his own small business. if he keeps his over head down he'll do alright. it hard to tell how guys will work out. but i can't even count how many so called "tree men" didn't last a week with me.

 

[Jumper]

PPE and the new groundie

Some interesting comments here.......

In retrospect I think one of the reasons I got my first job in this business was because I already owned all my own PPE and thus appeared a little professional, or perhaps prepared is a better way of putting it. I have owned and used a chainsaw for years, and always have had(and used) the equipment to go with it.

Labour laws here are really strict, but like anywhere are liable to be ignored by newbie and pro alike. My second boss was like that-no helmet, eye, ear or leg protection at all because he "did not believe in it". Mind you this fool spiked everything as well so go figure.

I look at training new people along the lines of training a soldier-start off on the right foot with the ground rules, provide him with the equipment to do the job and add your skill and you have all the ingredients. On the other hand, if you look and behave like a bag of sh*t, ignore every rule in the book and are not skilled and up to date on new procedures, guess what you are going to get for a worker- a mirror image.

It is not cheap to outfit a groundie with the necessary PPE-here a minimum of $300 ($100 boots, $100 chaps or pants, $60 helmet muff visor combo, gloves, safety glasses etc) and a lot of people earning $10 per hour just do not have the $$$$$ to put together the legally required equipment. And in fact employers here are required to provide it but few do, and fewer get nabbed for not doing so after a major injury.

My two cents worth..

 

[Jumper]

Re: Training

. Most people are looking for a job today and the next guy to offer them another dollar an hour there gone.

QUOTE]

And some here wonder why they cannot attract and hold on to people at $10 (or less) an hour. I think it is the nature of the beast at the lower rates per hour. Regretably you do not attract the cream of the crop at less than $10 per here; in fact most will not work for that rate even though the minimum per hour is $6.75.

 

[Reed]

Well, we could do like that company up in Maine did and hire a van load of Guatamalans to work for substandard rates. Just make sure the driver knows when to turn and brake and stuff. I reacon that because all 14 aboard the van that sank were questionably legal residents (re: foreign exchange students), there's not a lot of compensation or anything to pay out.

 

[Jumper]

Re: Re: Training

Originally posted by Jumper

. Most people are looking for a job today and the next guy to offer them another dollar an hour there gone.

QUOTE]

And some here wonder why they cannot attract and hold on to people at $10 (or less) an hour. I think it is the nature of the beast at the lower rates per hour. Regretably you do not attract the cream of the crop at less than $10 per here; in fact most will not work for that rate even though the minimum per hour is $6.75.

And I think the ability to deal with nonsence read BS is directly proportional to the $$$$ being paid. Treat a labourer, groundie, low paid computer guy or whatever, with respect and you will be amazed with the results in some cases. Treat him or her like dung and do not be surprised when they walk.

 

[Reed]

Ya got that right Jumper!

 

[Jumper]

Not Dung but Gung

Originally posted by oakwilt
Ya got that right Jumper!

I speak from personal experiences!

 

[mowdenver]

Originally posted by Mike Maas
That's how we weed out the bad groundmen, give 'em a saw and no training, and send them out cutting. If they come back unhurt, they are hired. If they get cut, we just push them through the chipper.

Sounds like how the old man taught us on saws in the 60's.
6 yrs old you get a gun
8 years old and its time to run the ole 25lb craftsman.
I did ok but my brothers- lefty, pirate, and hop-a-long have some different thoughts on that system