Training Video of Rope in a Chipper

[livefreeordie]

It's not just rope that travels that fast when sucked into a chipper...I had a throw line sucked into the chipper at that same speed. Long story short it was a new ground guy and me not having the sense to stop him from chipping while I was setting lines... Anyways I'm very lucky only lost a month of work and now I save time when clipping my fingernails...

 

[TimBr]

Bag the rope. So much time and energy wasted with fighting brush away from as climb line. Like taking the bullet out of the chamber.

For DdRT climbers, brush on the rope prevents assured emergency exit from the tree.


P.s. with my near death experience, I made its 100% clear that my SRT tail would be at the ground level, just. The chipper was 15' away. The
Basal anchor meant 150' of rope in the system to stretch. It just barely got to the chipper.

Before I went up that day, I spoke face to face with each guy, the groundie with 4 months experience, and the ground lead, 10 years of experience. "My rope tail will be on the ground, the chipper will be running. My rope needs to stay out of the chipper." Each guy repeated that back to me. " Guess what?

What?

 

[TimBr]

It's not just rope that travels that fast when sucked into a chipper...I had a throw line sucked into the chipper at that same speed. Long story short it was a new ground guy and me not having the sense to stop him from chipping while I was setting lines... Anyways I'm very lucky only lost a month of work and now I save time when clipping my fingernails...View attachment 40614

Pretty horrifying how fast such a serious accident can occur. Do you still feel any pain from those injuries?

 

[livefreeordie]

Pretty horrifying how fast such a serious accident can occur. Do you still feel any pain from those injuries?

I do not have any "phantom pains" if that is what you are referring to, however I do have other recurring issues to deal with like splitting skin and random aches and pains but nothing serious and I still count my blessings whenever I recall the incident. I could have lost so much more then a couple fingertips, and I am much more aware of potential dangers and safer overall.

 

[TimBr]

Thanks for the answers, @livefreeordie; the possibility of phantom pain is what I was referring to. I appreciate your really positive mindset, and wish you nothing but the best.

Tim

 

[John_KAYS]

It's not just rope that travels that fast when sucked into a chipper...I had a throw line sucked into the chipper at that same speed. Long story short it was a new ground guy and me not having the sense to stop him from chipping while I was setting lines... Anyways I'm very lucky only lost a month of work and now I save time when clipping my fingernails...View attachment 40614

Live-free-or-die, I immediately thought of how ironic your username is in this circumstance. I know I shouldn't be making light of what happened as I always respect and have a proper fearin' of the chipper, but it seems to me that you weren't so free when your accident happened. But, on a serious note, what happened? Were you holding loops of the line in that hand or was it all from the speed of the line sliding along your fingers? I feel like this would be way more common than a climb line if throw lines had as much exposure during the day.. being a throw line it is 'designed' to get snagged and tangled!
This is a good lesson! I have heard of the danger with ropes, but this is valuable in taking the lesson one further. Thanks for sharing!

 

[livefreeordie]

So I have never posted about my injury or shared too much about it on social media because I was actually embarrassed and self conscious about it for quite a while, but i have realized that it had helped make me into the person that I am today and that my story can help others prevent potential injury so here I go....
I should preface this story by saying the company i work for is the best company i have ever worked for and my boss is probably the most honest and caring employers I have ever known and his employees safety and well being are of his utmost concern.
We are a climbing company with no aerial lifts and at the time I was working on a three man crew with a new ground guy in training. The crew leader was busy deadwood a pine tree and I was working on setting a climbing line in a black cherry tree that was getting a deadwood pruning. I had my back to the chipper and didn't think much of it when the ground guy fired it up and began to chip as it was what I thought was a good distance away. Unfortunately I believe that when I was isolating my tie in point in order to install a friction saver, yes it was a time before srwp, I pulled a long loop out in the direction of the chipper and just continued setting my line.
The next thing I knew I felt a very aggressive tugging motion on my right shoulder and then I was on the ground. I opened my eyes only to realize that I was laying on the ground, my hard hat had been knocked off my head and the ear muffs had been knocked off it, and I was looking at my right hand which was missing the ring and pinky fingertips. The ring finger was cut surgically clean straight through as if you cut it with a sharp set of felcos but the pinky finger was cut at an angle so all you could see was the exposed bone and bloody flesh.
I gathered myself a little bit before I got up and yelled at the ground guy to shut down the chipper and get the first aid kit and summoned the crew leader out of the pine nearby that he was deadwooding. The experienced crew leader hit the ground long before the frazzled groundie found the first aid kit and immediately handed me the blood stopper kit off of his harness and we headed to the hospital. He asked before we left if I wanted to find my fingers and I said they were gone let's go.
It was on the way to the hospital that I was able to really start to realize what happened and noticed the sleeve on my shirt. Apparently the throw line had started up near my armpit because the sleeve of my poly shirt was melted and almost completely torn off and I had a bruise on my thumb nail as if I had hit it with a hammer. I didn't realize at the time because of the fog from everything that had just happened but I have since realized that it any little thing were different that day I could have lost a lot more then I did, a thumb,a hand, or even my whole arm.
This is way more long winded then I intended to be but there's my story hope it helps keep others safe.

 

[treehumper]

When describing an incident like this it's much more useful to be "longwinded". We get the details then instead of wondering and speculating. What I find interesting is the rationalizing of actions at the time that now were obviously dangerous, i.e., pulling line toward the chipper. As in the case of my accident, I felt the more telling and useful analysis was figuring out what was going on in my mind. What was I thinking!? Not just a rhetorical question but a necessary step in getting to the heart of the incident. It was there that chain of events started which led to the outcome that cost so dearly.

Thanks for giving us your story!

 

[mrtree]

Once again had proper hazard and risk assessment been done it would have been realized the chance for the throwline to be caught was high, the injuries severe (perhaps life threatening if the neck was cut) and there would have been mitigation (no throwlines out with brush on ground) implemented.

Of course we will hear the whining and complaining how this is too slow, stupid, inefficient etc., but it would have saved some fingertips in this case.

 

[TimBr]

@livefreeordie; Seconded on the thanks for sharing the details of the incident. It will help to keep us all safer. Up to now I'd only been thinking about the need to keeping the climbing and rigging lines clear, in the possible future where I work around a chipper.

Thanks again.

Tim

 

[John_KAYS]

So I have never posted about my injury or shared too much about it on social media because I was actually embarrassed and self conscious about it for quite a while, but i have realized that it had helped make me into the person that I am today and that my story can help others prevent potential injury so here I go....
I should preface this story by saying the company i work for is the best company i have ever worked for and my boss is probably the most honest and caring employers I have ever known and his employees safety and well being are of his utmost concern.
We are a climbing company with no aerial lifts and at the time I was working on a three man crew with a new ground guy in training. The crew leader was busy deadwood a pine tree and I was working on setting a climbing line in a black cherry tree that was getting a deadwood pruning. I had my back to the chipper and didn't think much of it when the ground guy fired it up and began to chip as it was what I thought was a good distance away. Unfortunately I believe that when I was isolating my tie in point in order to install a friction saver, yes it was a time before srwp, I pulled a long loop out in the direction of the chipper and just continued setting my line.
The next thing I knew I felt a very aggressive tugging motion on my right shoulder and then I was on the ground. I opened my eyes only to realize that I was laying on the ground, my hard hat had been knocked off my head and the ear muffs had been knocked off it, and I was looking at my right hand which was missing the ring and pinky fingertips. The ring finger was cut surgically clean straight through as if you cut it with a sharp set of felcos but the pinky finger was cut at an angle so all you could see was the exposed bone and bloody flesh.
I gathered myself a little bit before I got up and yelled at the ground guy to shut down the chipper and get the first aid kit and summoned the crew leader out of the pine nearby that he was deadwooding. The experienced crew leader hit the ground long before the frazzled groundie found the first aid kit and immediately handed me the blood stopper kit off of his harness and we headed to the hospital. He asked before we left if I wanted to find my fingers and I said they were gone let's go.
It was on the way to the hospital that I was able to really start to realize what happened and noticed the sleeve on my shirt. Apparently the throw line had started up near my armpit because the sleeve of my poly shirt was melted and almost completely torn off and I had a bruise on my thumb nail as if I had hit it with a hammer. I didn't realize at the time because of the fog from everything that had just happened but I have since realized that it any little thing were different that day I could have lost a lot more then I did, a thumb,a hand, or even my whole arm.
This is way more long winded then I intended to be but there's my story hope it helps keep others safe.

Thanks for the details! It is hard to relive these accidents. I know, after the fact, it is easy to go through and decide what was safe and what was not, what could have been done to make things safer, and so on.... BUT the fact is that it happened and we can only learn from these incidents now. For instance, how can we make sure this sort of thing never happens again. I for one am going to be extra cautious with my throw lines! Maybe by hearing your story I will keep my finger tips...or my life. So I thank you!

I had an accident, unrelated to tree work, where I was breaking kindling over my knee to start a fire in my wood stove. A piece shot up into my eye and did serious damage. I wear eye protection all the time when I am working, but that didn't help when I let my eye pay for the time I wasn't working and not wearing safety glasses! Everyone's advice was that I should have been wearing safety glasses... Of course safety glasses could have prevented the damage, but that is not going to help after the fact...definitely next time. It is an easy thing to look back at an accident and say, "well this is what should have happened." It is valuable for the future, but it is often obvious things...so shouldn't I have known? I now have an always present reminder that eye protection can *protect* those extremely important tools on the front of my face. I am sure those fingers serve you with a similar reminder, but let me tell you each time I hear a story or see the pictures they serve as a reminder to me. This stuff is really important, and we can all help each other out by sharing and talking this over so it is in our minds whether we are in the field or at home. Always pay attention and learn from your mistakes...hopefully one person doesn't have to make all of the mistakes!

 

[Leroy]

Good post, John.

 

[TimBr]

@John_KAYS; Thanks for mentioning this incident about breaking kindling. I've worked in a similar fashion a bunch of times, and gotten away with it. I'm wondering if besides wearing safety glasses, hooking the kindling under the knee and pulling up on it might help in the future. That way maybe the shrapnel will get thrown downwards?

Tim

 

[Pelorus]

Once again had proper hazard and risk assessment been done it would have been realized the chance for the throwline to be caught was high, the injuries severe (perhaps life threatening if the neck was cut) and there would have been mitigation (no throwlines out with brush on ground) implemented.

Of course we will hear the whining and complaining how this is too slow, stupid, inefficient etc., but it would have saved some fingertips in this case.

Ever notice the really important body parts only come in ones and twos, (like eyes, gonads, etc), but you got multiple toes, teeth, fingers?
Anyway, I got to thinking about your post, and by gum, you are onto something here. It is spot on, dude.
But I also think that if the groundman had had an extra large coffee instead of a medium one, his bladder woulda been fuller sooner, necessitating a break, just at the precise moment the throwbaggery was going on. Fate dictated otherwise, alas.

 

[mrtree]

But I also think that if the groundman had had an extra large coffee instead of a medium one, his bladder woulda been fuller sooner, necessitating a break, just at the precise moment the throwbaggery was going on. Fate dictated otherwise, alas.

Yes but that would be a bit of luck, not planning.

Hazard and Risk Assessment

R recognize
A assess
C control
E evaluate

 

[livefreeordie]

Once again had proper hazard and risk assessment been done it would have been realized the chance for the throwline to be caught was high, the injuries severe (perhaps life threatening if the neck was cut) and there would have been mitigation (no throwlines out with brush on ground) implemented.

Of course we will hear the whining and complaining how this is too slow, stupid, inefficient etc., but it would have saved some fingertips in this case.

Your assumption that a proper job briefing and risk assessment is just that, an assumption. We perform a job briefing for every job site we encounter and often we do multiple briefings throughout the day as situations change. Clearly you have never had a new ground guy that doesn't follow directions and does his own thing. The real problem that day was that the ground guy changed the plan without consulting anyone and I was too focused on what I was doing and didn't set him straight before things went wrong. But clearly you got it all figured out and could have prevented any potential issues or injuries. If only mrtree were there to save the day.

 

[mrtree]

Clearly you do not understand and implement proper hazard and risk assessment, it was not done in this case, there is prima facea evidence to prove that. In your scenario a new ground guy was allowed to change the plan without you (the supervisor?) knowing. A competent supervisor would be there to save the day by realizing that a new ground person cannot always be relied upon and added mitigation would be needed compared without the more experienced crew. The supervisor would have ensured during the job briefing that every person understood the hazards and the mitigation or controls and would have taken extra time with a new employee.

As I have suggested somebody will start complaining, and of course I know nothing and your situation is so unique nobody could possibility understand. I do know that proper supervisor training, hazard and risk assessment, job planning etc. are all skills that have nothing to do with throwlines or who has the most tree work experience but rather are courses, training and education etc. that have common themes throughout the health and safety world.

Please continue to be smary and insinuate that I know nothing and you know all.

 

[livefreeordie]

I am by no means insinuating that I know everything. I will be the first to admit that I do not know everything and there is always more to learn. I was simply pointing out the fact that you have no idea if a proper risk assessment was done cause in fact it was done and I was not the supervisor on crew but even if i was the amount of time that elapsed between the deviation from the plan and the incident was under five minutes. I have accepted, though I didn't at first, that I was partially at fault for the incident and likely could have prevented it so that is not the point that I am disputing. I am simply letting you know that your assumption and blanket statement about what went on were incorrect.

 

[mrtree]

What is so hard to understand? You lost your fingertips, therefore an incident occurred, therefore the risk was not controlled, therefore the hazards were not correctly recognized.

It is really simple accident=improper hazard and risk assessment, controls, supervision etc.

So less than five minutes from the plan to the incident, well that is even more indication that a proper hazard and risk assessment had not been done. Simple question when and where did you, the supervisor and other employees do a course on hazard and risk assessment on the jobsite? If the main players in the crew have not had this training then it is doubtful the the assessments are being done, SOP are in place to control the common recurring hazards, and the crew are thinking beyond the basics of tree work.

 

[mrtree]

I am talking not about training that uses the word or term arborist and tree worker but H&S courses that teach the basics that can be applied across jobs, industry and employers. Arborists need to get beyond thinking that their risks are chainsaws and rope and begin to think in a systematized approach to the job at hand and all it entails.