clean your notch and clear your energy

dspacio

dspacio

Branched out member
Location
Narragansett Bay
mark one for the near miss category;

a little oak tree is chunked down, 20' log standing, about 11" diameter.
guy makes a hinge, begins felling cut, wants me to push it over from above/behind in a bucket.
log begins falling normally, then abruptly swings 45 degrees to the right, bounces off the cage above bucket cab, and bounces back to strike the guy in the cheek.

luckily it didn't hit him anywhere to cause major damage other than likely, a big scar.
I am pretty sure one side of the hinge closed early and caused the tree to hook like that.

my takeaways: every fall, even the so-called tiny, are still big objects in tree work and deserve thorough attention, like cleaning out the notch.
I was kinda slowly shocked as it was happening and did not yell to get him out of the way sooner. I thought he was watching, then noticed he was looking at his cut, too late.

the biggest thing was that this guys back was hurting and was complaining a lot during the preceding weeks. it was getting more and more intense, creating a whole bad sensation around each job we did, that was growing.
there is more I could say but you have all seen and heard it, watch out when that anxious, painful energy is going around. I am grateful it wasn't a major injury and hope all of us there learn a bit from it.

I am beginning to understand when I smell an incident approaching. It's a hard thing for me to talk about with guys though, how to check their energy. It's a subtle and strange conversation but I have seen a lot of results now that make me take this serious.
 
Oh my god.
I’m so glad it didn’t turn out worse.

So was there a little chunk of the notch still attached on one side of the face cut?

Was he still standing next to the stump when he got hit?
As soon as I’m done cutting my back cut, I get away.
 
Something that works for me- when I sense something like you’re talking about, I catch everyone while they’re in a group and ask how everyone is. Even if they don’t know what I’m doing or don’t care for it, it does the job of bringing everyone to the present moment and causing them to do some measure of self assessment. It’s super simple, and I don’t even explain myself sometimes. Simply- “Hey guys, how’s everyone doing?”

Number one- repetition. Do it again and again. Even if some on the team hate it, it will become habit, and they may end up checking in on themselves internally as time goes on. Be willing to be the annoying guy that people make fun of when you’re not around. The funny thing is, they’ll still be talking about the things you want in the forefront of their minds. It works, and it could save lives many times over in the quietest way.
 
Jonny said:
So was there a little chunk of the notch still attached on one side of the face cut?

Was he still standing next to the stump when he got hit?
As soon as I’m done cutting my back cut, I get away.
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the log got chipped immediately and he cut the stump down pronto too, he said "I don't even want to look at that stump" and I didn't argue. I got a quick peek at it and there was little or no hinge left, it looked like a snap cut does.
I could feel it take the hook, I was trying to keep it on course for a moment, there was no way to push it left, so I know material was interfering with that path.

and yea, I was shocked when I looked down and he was still near the stump. once a tree is 10-15 degrees tipping over, I am moving away. I thought he was already outta there, it's why I didnt yell immediately.

I am also relieved it wasn't worse. it took a few days for me to straighten out my own state. I share only in the hope of keeping awareness up.
 
Crimsonking said:
Something that works for me- when I sense something like you’re talking about, I catch everyone while they’re in a group and ask how everyone is.

Number one- repetition. Do it again and again. Even if some on the team hate it, it will become habit, and they may end up checking in on themselves internally as time goes on. Be willing to be the annoying guy that people make fun of when you’re not around. The funny thing is, they’ll still be talking about the things you want in the forefront of their minds. It works, and it could save lives many times over in the quietest way.
Click to expand...

Thanks @Crimsonking . This was something I did every time we prepared to move a concrete countertop (usually between 400-700 lbs, carry through a finished interior environment), I would confirm with everyone that they were ready, feeling good, we would verify our entire path, everything. And I have experienced what you say, they find it so annoying!! haha, I didn't care at all. I would rather avoid reaching some corner it doesn't fit thru, etc. or facing the wrong direction at the end, whatever.

I was working on keeping moods up in this case but I am hesitant in being a contractor, he is home team, and he is elder to me. For these reasons I neglect taking as much command as in some other crews and environments I have been in.

it's a whole other thread, but I am figuring out where I lay in times where the climber-contractor/foreman role is blurring. I have been rolling with it, but when it comes to safety I will not eff around.

I appreciate the suggestion. I am going to keep doing this, and up the game too.
 
The contractor role is tough. That’s my role these days, too. Thankfully, I have key people on each team that I work with regularly that are on the same page, and who also check in on me throughout the day. Your thread has inspired me to start one detailing a developing situation in my experience that highlights the benefits of having those kind of people in our corner.

I hear you on the blurry roles we sometimes find ourselves in. The tree I’m in is my domain, my call. I’ll make suggestions on workflow and will point out safety issues I see in the moment. Otherwise, I’m not the crew leader or supervisor unless hired specifically to be that for the day (very, very rare). If I am, things go exactly as I say, and if something goes sideways because of deviance, it will be clearly reported to the owner. I will own my mistakes, and everyone else will own theirs.
 
Thanks . I have always given a lot of attention to workplace/team dynamics. I usually have a great rapport and rhythm with these guys, but this back injury ongoing stress factor was beyond what I could cool down. I considered being a sorta jerk and telling him to lighten up or take a break for a few days, but it felt beyond my standing to say it like that. It really was at that level though, and it could have prevented the way it went down. There are about 20 other factors for why it's all wacky lately and the back was the camel that broke a plastic straw or whatever.

I had my own job later in the week. It was great to set the pace to drop big trees s a f e l y .
 
Moral to the story.. Shitting cutting can kill or maim, and friends dont let friends make shitty cuts. If you see someone doing so, stop them and point out the error of their ways.. Fuck their ego.

Its amazing that the arb industry doesn't spend a whole lot more time teaching proper cutting skills, and creating a mindset that we should all strive for perfection on each and every cut.
 
Serf Life said:
That’s the main takeaway I got from the story. Stop the worksite check that stump, if he had flushed it grab the piece and put it back. The guy saying “I don’t want to look at it” is a shit comment, gotta learn and own it.
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yep, I am with you .. this is where I was conflicted , if it were my job I would have shut everything down right away and gone over what happened. There is no room for void in leadership on the site; I am learning what my role really is at that moment.

I appreciate the reality you bring @rico , his ego isn't what needs preserving, it's our lives and functioning bodies; you all remind me to be more firm with what's happening. I couldn't see the cut at all, the whole thing was rushed.
 
People’s well being matters more than who’s jobsite it is. Will you continue to work with them? If so don’t you want that to be a one and done? I’m relatively conflict avoidant so may have done what you did…then beat myself up about not addressing the fuckup.
 
Serf Life said:
People’s well being matters more than who’s jobsite it is. Will you continue to work with them? If so don’t you want that to be a one and done? I’m relatively conflict avoidant so may have done what you did…then beat myself up about not addressing the fuckup.
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Yes I really dig working with these folks and will continue. I felt like, "this guy is already bleeding from his face, I am not going to sit him down to tell him how wrong the cut was, he knows..." (but I think really he didn't know why it happened that way) but I explained to the other younger ground guy what I think caused the hook, after he headed off to clean the wound.

I will be working with them again this week. Will definitely be making the chance to talk over what went down.
 
dspacio said:
Yes I really dig working with these folks and will continue. I felt like, "this guy is already bleeding from his face, I am not going to sit him down to tell him how wrong the cut was, he knows..." (but I think really he didn't know why it happened that way) but I explained to the other younger ground guy what I think caused the hook, after he headed off to clean the wound.

I will be working with them again this week. Will definitely be making the chance to talk over what went down.
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People like you are what’s right with this industry.
 
There are many ways to structure responsibility and authority in a group. How contractors fit into that structure can be awkward.

A concept that I came up with to give safety the importance it deserves is that everyone has equal footing whenit comes to safety.

VOTE/VETO is what I call it.

Since a safety issue affects everyone everyone is involved without having any butt-hurt feelings. What someone else sees or knows is important. The work environment must be open and accepting.

That said, just because someone exercises their veto doesn't mean that their way will be used. It just needs to be OK to bring it up.
 
Weekly safety meetings are a fantastic way to bring things like this up in a place where the adrenaline and rush of the day is removed from the facts. I’ve been amazed at the kinds of honesty and reflection folks will bring to these conversations. They are the norm for a couple outfits I contract with but I haven’t sat in on one in quite a while. The first time I witnessed one I was blown away that a company would devote clocked time for sitting around and talking, but as we all know, one safety mistake can destroy weeks of productivity. So it’s a good investment on many levels.

As per the role of contractor and when to step in... that is something I’m also learning. I agree with Tom and others, where it comes to safety concerns you should always voice it.
 
Stumpsprouts said:
As per the role of contractor and when to step in... that is something I’m also learning. I agree with Tom and others, where it comes to safety concerns you should always voice it.
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We treat our contractors like a member of the crew; they have the same amount of say as any member, and usually more say in some areas, as contractors are generally specialists - we bring in experts for a reason, it’s best to listen to them when they are around!
 
There are crews that buck when a contractor is brought in. The attitude that the contractor can't tell anyone what to do because they aren't part of the daily crew stinks. The authority and responsibility of the contractor has to be clear.
 
You also don't have to immediately check the stump. On a little tree like that flush it and save the bottom 6"of log for analysis. It's utterly reckless to stay at the stump if machine pushed.

I love @Crimsonking 's suggestion of checking in when the vibe feels weird. Already informally do that but will try to implement it myself more formally in the future.

Great topic, glad the guy is relatively ok
 
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