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....If there were ever a way to measure the effect of the safety of the workforce by following the Z and the companies who don't even require head and eye pro I think that it would be significant. Another reg for the 'law abiders' to follow can make things even more difficult.
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If this is the gist of the argument against chainsaw pro for climbers then I wonder why any of the Z is in place....pretty much the entire thing regulates 'law abiders' and does nothing to prevent companies that don't acknowledge it.
"Another discussion point is to consider the workplace heat that the workers in the US encounter. Here in Austin it was 80F last Friday! How much risk is the climber at when their body heats up and their functions start to shut down?"
Ummm...According to Al Gore we are all going to be working in 90 F temps....including the Canadians
I'm pretty sure that most of Europe has 4 seasons as well. Would hate to think we are so truly arrogant that we shouldn't have to deal with conditions that most others can and do work in regularly.
If I were more cynical I might speculate that there may be several very old and very large private companies and potentially a few extremely large utility line companies that wouldn't be a big fan of suddenly needing to outfit all of their climbers with chainsaw protective pants. Are there studies available from Europe showing the value of having climbers wearing leg protection? Couldn't those studies also apply to climbers here?
This same cynicism might also apply to the 22 kN rule for gear... It sure would be a convenient way to promote US manufacturers over foreign manufacturers if the foreign standards for products just happened to be a tad shy of the US standards.....Its too bad the US has lost the ability to compete globally in many manufacturing areas, even with standards set it place to assist them.
Of course, for either of the above to actually be true then the needs of large powerful companies would be placed above the needs of the people actually doing the work or using the gear......that surely couldn't be possible
*** Please bear in mind that I have been laid up in bed much of this past week and had plenty of time to listen to "Coast to Coast A.M" so at this point I am seeing conspiracy in the fact that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West
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