Tom,
We've had discussions about one handing saws here before.. Some for and many against the regulation. DO me a favor. Get Mark Chisholm to comment on this thread and say publicly that he doesn't one hand a saw EVER... and I'll apologize to all here.
As a point of clarification:
OSHA is for employees.. OSHA does not regulate self-employed individuals.. SO OSHA does not apply to me..
ANSI makes guidelines. There is no penalty for operating outside those guidelines alone, though should an employee get hurt, the owner can be held responsible, even criminally responsible, for failure to ensure that employees are following those guidelines.
That said, I do support industry safety standards, Some very smart people have analized how injuries happen, and developed guidelines to prevent them, THAT IS GOOD!
There are so many different variables in tree work that is hard to regulate safe behaviour in every little detail... Yes, when a climber is getting trained it is imperative to teach him to stay tied in twice when operating a saw, always put two hands on a saw, and never raise the saw above shoulder level. And it is just good for even the best climbers to obey the tules as SOP.... take the extra 5 seconds to throw that lanyard on before a cut..
Yet there are going to be times when it makes sense to break the rules. I did a large pine limb, which is on video linked below.. In order to clear the roof, I had to either reach for the cut or climb out of the bucket. IMO it was safer to reach and stay in the bucket, though I could have used the power pruner.
The cut is 15 seconds in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8g__syN4_I
Now a boy scout mightg say yes.. use the power pruner.. its safer than reaching.. BUT that may not be true. the extra time it takes to do that will end up making a longer day of it and someone might do something stupid becasue they are rushing at the end of the day... Also, there was the possibility that the power pruner might get pinched, which would again bring in another variable that could end up getting someone hurt. It was safer for me to reach. I have the experience to make that call.
Fatigue is also a huge factor in safety. Doing things the quick and efficient way is often safer. It may not be by the book, but at the end of the day, or even the next day I'll have that much more energy to do a job safely. Any parent that has ever taken their young children to a playground can appreciate just how much of a safety factor fatigue is..
