woke up to a bad sight today

[Maui Palm & Tree Care]

So my neighbors have 3 Norfolk island pines on there property and have been looking a bit sickly lately. i don't know the neighbors to well and had no idea they hired a cowboy with a chainsaw to take down the biggest of the 3 tree's. basically i heard chainsaws this morning walked out side and was shocked at the lack of safety. this guy was blocking down the tree and i missed him taking out the top so i walked out when he was blocking down the middle sections. he had
1. no helmet
2. no lanyard(he was using a chain)
3. no climbing line
4. pole spikes not tree gaffs
5. pieces were not being rigged down and were in a close proximity to plants, a hedge, the house, and other tree's.

I asked him if he was a certified Arborist and he lied to my face. i know most to all of the Arborists who are certified here and know the guy who over see's the testing for Maui. his name is Ernie Rezents. anyways this guy is a climber for a company called friendly tree trimming. they are a big company and have a bucket truck and lots of groundies and one climber. i am just amazed that here in Hawaii hardly anyone follows the safety codes set by OSHA and the ANSI. i know i cant save the world but i am just super unhappy with how guys do work here.

what do you guys do when you see things like this? do you get as agro as i do?? i could be over reacting but this dude was asking to get hurt and the fact that businesses here get away with unsafe work practices is just anoying.

should i just let it go and ignor it? is it even worth it to get soo flustered by it?

 

[easyphloem]

Put some safety glasses on yourself before you crucify that dude.

SZ

 

[Maui Palm & Tree Care]

i know i know. i learned my lesson there. i allways have glasses on now. infact i use a mesh screen visor on my hard hat. but i allways have a hardhat and i allways have at least 2 attachment points to the tree and 3 i have my climbline with me.

 

[familytree]

The dude doesn't need to rig stuff down just because he's in close proximity to anything. If he can get it down without ropes more power to em. I rig a lot. His confidence is higher than mine.

As for a saw lanyard, some don't use them. I do. I know plenty of folks who don't. To each his/her own

Helmet? Yea that's a problem

 

[guymayor]

video and youtube, with a possible reference to his day job.

 

[nuthin_special]

The guy was already halfway through the tree when you woke up?

I guess you must live on "island time"

Those cowboys always take some business away but more often than not they just perpetuate their bad reputation. Keep your practices at peak and you will always pull ahead of schmuks like that.

 

[Maui Palm & Tree Care]

no not a saw lanyard. a flipline lanyard. i reported his company to OSHA about an hour after i posted this. this is not the first time i have seen them being idiots!

oh and guymayor, they do this crap all the time here im sure someone has a video of them. look them up in the maui directory. http://friendlytreelandscaping.com/tree-services/ look at this. they freaking offer topping as a part of thier services http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/images/icons/mad.gif

 

[simplyarbor]

i feel you joshuatrees... i grew up on oahu and it makes me pissed and appalled that any one that thinks they can run a saw constitutes a tree trimmer. especially when you are trying to uphold standard safety practices and educate the general public on safe practices and proper tree work... bet they spiked all those monkey pods they pruned, chee hoo!!

 

[Kikori]

Joshua,


This is a huge case of the pot calling the kettle black. You really reported them to OSHA? Really???

Some one online could have reported you to OSHA for not wearing eye protection.

Should you be bothered by unsafe work practices in your area? Of course!

We all feel similarly when we see blatent disregard for safety.

You should have gotten some photos.

How can you improve the situation? Be a part of the tree climbing community in your area and spread the word about safety. Invite this clown to a workshop or a rec climb. Tell him about Treebuzz.

In reality, there are few things that would change some people's safety ethics on the job site. Just like all members of a society choose to or at times not to follow the laws governing that society.

Eric

 

[whiz]

IMO there are as many viewpoints and approaches to these situations...as there are arborists. Many years ago I wished cats like that would leave the industry and then someone said "No Kristian. Those are the people you want to try to REACH because they are the most likely to get hurt. Those are the people you want in camp, bra. I'm putting your social and professional creativity on the table." In about 6 months I was sharing climbs with one guy who's now a respected arborist. Dude I believe in you and I know with the right approach...you'll be the guy they're thanking before too long. Go get 'em.

 

[southsoundtree]

Whoa. That's quite a webpage. Lots of pictures of them without much in the way of PPE, etc. Some fine promotion of their great topping skills. First picture on their webpage.

I think that you can get your ducks in a row first, JT. You can/ maybe should actively talk to people about not topping their trees, and hiring a crew with a proven track record of safety and proper tree care.

Develop your own skills and subtly work into your walk-n-talk about the differences that your company offers. Continue reading and asking questions, and putting up your work for critique/ learning purposes, as well as sharing some pics of beautiful Hawaii.

It can get my blood boiling when topping is sold to an unsuspecting customer. I feel that I get lumped in with other "tree guys" like this. (We should promote ourselves as tree professionals or tree workers. You don't see mechanics going around calling themselves car guys, or doctors as medical guys.)

On the other hand, some people demand topping. The former I see as a form of stealing. The latter, stubbornness and inability to learn from others/ research.

I think that a CA credential, when you are able to earn it, is worthwhile. You will have to know your market, though. A CA credential is a stepping stone, not an end. Lots of skilled, experienced people operate without it. It is a good way to set yourself apart.

Its a good way to force yourself to get additional training for CEUs, and stay aware of things. By no means is it the "Be all, end all", but its what we've got (in addition to TCIA's credentialing program).

You can start by just becoming an ISA member, or maybe you're ready to take the "Climber Specialist" exam(which people can knock, or take a just a poor choice in names, or a step above the basic spurs and belt climbers (in some cases chain)).

Are you bothered that you didn't get the job instead? Is this some of the fuel in your fire?

Being safe and within professional standards, then promoting it as your company's way of working, and telling people that you are accepting new customers, and would they please let their friends know about their experiences with your company, should go a long way.





Bet a chain is hard to cut through. Anybody tried?

 

[familytree]

Ouch. ISA certified logo on the bottom of the same page as a topped out tree. You'd thing that the ISA would want to hear about that one

 

[Maui Palm & Tree Care]

maybe i should call the ISA and report it. you know you guys are right. i deff need to establish a well documented safety record of my business but that fact that these guys had no helmets, even his ground crew working 10 feet away from the tree had no helmets got me worried. yeah i was guilty in the past for no eye protection but i allways have a helmet and i allways have my ears protected. i never ever work a job without eye protection now. i reported it to osha becuase if i can save a life, im happy.

 

[mabon]

Take a videos of these guys next time and put 'em on youtube(it'll be a good one to learn about SHALL & SHOULD)

 

[Adkpk]

[ QUOTE ]
Joshua,


This is a huge case of the pot calling the kettle black. You really reported them to OSHA? Really???

Some one online could have reported you to OSHA for not wearing eye protection.

Should you be bothered by unsafe work practices in your area? Of course!

We all feel similarly when we see blatent disregard for safety.

You should have gotten some photos.

How can you improve the situation? Be a part of the tree climbing community in your area and spread the word about safety. Invite this clown to a workshop or a rec climb. Tell him about Treebuzz.

In reality, there are few things that would change some people's safety ethics on the job site. Just like all members of a society choose to or at times not to follow the laws governing that society.

Eric

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. Well written.

 

[simplyarbor]

i can see both sides of the coin on this issue. I think reporting people is looked upon negatively, but turning blind eye can and will eventually lead to injury or death of someone in the tree community. I think JT has faced the ppe issue and is well aware of its implications, as indicated by the thread in which it is discussed. it is very frustrating to see people out there who are severely lacking in the ppe and safety departments, when there are a lot of skilled (sometimes certified) arborists out there who push the industry to follow safety standards. I say out the posers and keep the tree community thriving and proffesional with regards to safety and proper practices.

-simplyarbor

 

[Fernhorn]

Consider chilling on that report him to this, that, or the other authority vibe please.

Listen, I threw a pic up here the other day of a grove of beautiful red maples that were topped out- I mean just abused. But I tried to avoid dissing the dude who did it by name. What I did was -when he climbed out of the tree I stuck up a conversation about the gear he was using and we had a friendly talk. The only thing I really tried to impress upon him was the importance of wearing a helmet (which he said he had his helmet on, it was a do rag). He just wouldn't hear the helmet word. I didn't even bring up the topped trees cause I knew that's what the HO wanted and we all gotta put food on the table.

Going straight to report him sounds a bit, hmmmm, how do I word this nicely - beneath you. You can do better, as we all can. But.....

Perfection is always to be striven for but it's never achieved.

 

[southsoundtree]

Don't underestimate the pole spikes for take downs. Tree spikes are usually overkill, and less ergonomic, IMO.




I heard someone was "soft-spurring" some pruning trees by wearing pole spikes. How laughable.

 

[Maui Palm & Tree Care]

hahahaha soft spurring HAHAHAHAH you made my day. wait till the guys get a hold of this one!!! LOL

 

[boreality]

It's just like the war on drugs approach. You could fight the suppliers or deal with the demand. Putting all the suppliers in jail only created more suppliers. So the demand would of had better results.

What I'm saying is consumer education would go farther than surveillance videos and "reporting" these guy. Stopping and educating the offenders, I got no time for that.

I've said it before, our organization's primary role in the trade's well being should be consumer education.

It is very disturbing to watch the untrained crews operate and I'd love to do something about it. As long as the consumer has no idea of proffesional standards, it's unstoppable.