For more than 30 years, Arbor Age magazine has been covering new and innovative products, services, technology and research vital to tree care companies, municipal arborists and utility right-of-way maintenance companies
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SPECIAL FEATURE An Ounce of PREVENTION… Creating a culture of safety in arboriculture By Mark Chisholm I saw a photograph the other day of a military tent in Afghanistan.What jumped out at me was a sign above the entrance. It read, "Complacency Kills." I think, as professional arborists who climb trees for a living and use chain saws high above the ground while being secured with only connectors and ropes, we should keep a copy of this sign always handy; because when we get too comfortable with our work, bad things happen.As Benjamin Franklin famously said,"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." By following basic safety protocols and techniques consistently, you and your crew greatly reduce your risk. Create a plan Sit down with the key leaders at your company from various crews, and discuss what your company does well and what to improve.What training needs to occur to standardize the employee knowledge? How often should you train, and how many employees should be involved? What kinds of issues are common in the industry, and what kinds are common in your region? Weather-related concerns, such as heatstroke, may be something you need to take into consideration, as well as proper procedures for working in the aftermath of extreme storms, as my crews did after Hurricane Sandy.Your plan should work for you and be relevant to the issues you already face, as well as those you might encounter. Practice the plan The best laid plans are only worthwhile if they are used. Make your safety training and protocols part of your — and your crew's — daily routine.The more frequently they are practiced, the more natural it will be if they ever need to be used. Conduct training sessions on difficult scenarios often so that everyone is confident about what will need to be done in an emergency situation. Police, EMTs, firefighters and hospital medical personnel drill on safety procedures often and know exactly 10 Arbor Age / July/August 2013 what to do when a threatening situation occurs.Ensure your teams do the same — regular drills and training sessions will make responses natural if the need arises. First aid training Making sure each employee has basic first aid skills can often make a difference if a serious safety incident arises. Include this training as part of your safety plan, and keep certifications updated. Like everything else in life, spending time to prepare well before these skills are necessary will ensure you have them ready when the time comes. In the heat of the moment of a real emergency is not the time you want to realize what skills you lack.And if you've ever had an incident on the job, you know that this training not only prepares you and your employees on the proper action to take, but is also empowering in a way that can overlap into all aspects of life. Confusion will only elevate stress levels of a victim, and that alone can be critically troubling. www.arborage.com