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Safety vs. Accident Prevention

The late Rose Farrens was steadfastly dedicated to the proposition that there is difference between safety and accident prevention. Safety is viewed as passive entity. Safely, being the absence of an accident, may be nothing more than sheer luck. Accident prevention is safety by design. Accident prevention is conscious recognition and effort to regulate hazards in the workplace that might lead to or cause an accident . If you have no accident prevention program, then a work period that records no injuries is a work period of luck, pure and simple. Instead of a billboard that states the number of days worked without an accident, there should a billboard that states the number of lucky days worked so far.

Pruning : An Introduction

Tree fools” cutting trees for “beer money” is classic. It’s so sort of sad to think that after so many years and in so many regards, we have come so far to still be so close to the starting line! Everytime you set your face to prune a tree, you have the opportunity to do something of lasting value to another living being. Think about it. Have a plan in mind before you begin cutting. What are you trying to accomplish, and how are you going to get there? Locate the obvious “gotta go’s” :

• The firm of D, D and D. Mr. Dead, Mr. Dying and Mr. Diseased. You’ll note that Mr. Dead is ranked first. He has seniority. He has been at the branch office the longest.
• Crossing, rubbing, or interfering limbs.
• Weak branches, look for V crotches and codominant stems.
• Excess interior growth, also called watersprouts or epicormic growth.

Try to maintain the following pruning priciples whenever practicable.

• Start in the top of the crown. You’ll have to make the long climb only once.
• Do not distrub a full crown or overthin it. Just remove the A through D gotta go’s above. Leave healthy foliage as undisturbed as possible. The more shade you can provide the interior of most trees, the less problem you’ll have with sunburn and excessive sprout growth. If a competent arborist has a problem with pruning style, it’s usually in taking out too much rather than not removinf enough. Many tree problems are the direct result of overthinning.
• Strive to achive a uniform distribution of foliage.
• Avoid the stripping, or liontailing, of limbs from the inside to the tips at all costs.
• Learn the occasions when making numerous small cuts is preferable to taking out one large limb.
• Learn when the removal of one larger limb is the best method to achive the desired effect.
• Try to plan for a finish contour that maintains the natural habit of growth of that species.
• Always strive to make a properly placed pruning wound. It doesn’t make any difference how good the tree looks accros the street, if the finish cuts are too flush or have ripped stubs.

Ladder Safety

Based upon personal experience, I’ve always been convinced that ladder would kill if given half a chance. Don’t give them the opportunity. In accordance with Z133.1, as well as common sense, follow these rules:

• All ladders shall be inspected daily before use.
• Keep your ladders tight. Replace that broken rung you’ve been meaning to fix.
• Make sure that footing is secure. Sometimes you’ll gave to use a block of wood or a board under one leg to level off the footing on uneven ground. wood or a board under one leg to level off the footing on uneven ground.
• Tie yourself in whenever possible. Tie off the ladder whenever needed. An extension ladder may be lashed off at the base or at the top, if practicable, for additional security.
• An extension will generally rest more securely in a tree if laid across a side limb, as opposed to laid against the trunk, where it can rock back and forth against the top rung.
• Keep this in mind when calculating the needed working height of an orchard ladder. NEVER stand on the top rung or on the one below that; step no higher than the one below that! Some manufactures specify no step beyond four rungs from the top.
• Have an assistant steady the ladder for you, if necessary, while ascending. Remove the ladder before heavy limbs are cut and dropped.
• An extension ladder must never be “run out” more than 3 feet less than its sold height. That gives a 32-foot extension a beginning working height of 29 feet, which is further reduced when the ladder is inclined to the correct approach angle.
• Aluminum ladders shall not be used where an electrical hazard exists.
• Do not use “in service” ladders as bridges, or inclined planes, to load or handle logs or other meterial.
• Never paint wooden ladders. Clear varnish or wood preservative is all right, but paint can hide cracks and other defects that could cause ladder failure.
• Beware of nicks, splinter and burrs on the rungs and side rails of a ladder. I slashed my palm open on a burr that I found the hard way on an aluminum extension ladder. Troy nicked our fiberglass ladder once with a