It Begins...

It Begins...
By Tim Ard, Forest Applications Training, Inc.

The summer thunderstorm and hurricane season has began again this year with marked devastation in the southern states. Heavy rainfall with high winds from the tropical storm Debby has lingered over the Florida Gulf area for several days and the effects have been felt northward for many miles. In the west, Colorado has been experiencing some of the hottest temp days in years accompanied by thousands of acres being devastated by wildfire. Those directly in the path of these disasters feel there is little left to the future other than many hours of clean up and rebuilding. Life continues, it begins again...

Somewhere, everyday, damages to life and property from storm and fire take place. Time after time the first tools to be placed into action are chainsaws. When the equipment is put into action, are plans in place to orchestrate this work process? Has training been previously conducted? Has an action plan been reviewed and incident prevention revisited before - It Begins...

Organized disaster relief has already made efforts to pre-train their workers if done properly. They know where their expertise resides and they concentrate on these properly placed skills to maximize their effectiveness and maintain an incident free work process. This organization and training must take place before the storm hits. It's documented that the cleanup operations, over time, have taken more people to the emergency rooms than the storms and fires themselves.

Sawing safely begins with a plan not the pull of the rope...

It Begins with...
Personal Protective Equipment
A chainsaw properly applied to the task
Understanding of the saw's owner's manual
Knowledge of the saw chain
Organizing saw supplies and accessories for operation
Plan and analyze the work area
Plan each cut
Communication with other workers
Know your limits!

Train for the future, don't wait till work begins.

Make certain you and your work team have had the proper beginning...

Sawing safely begins with a plan not the pull of the rope...

Tim Ard is President of Forest Applications Training, Inc. Find out more at www.ForestApps.com before the storm.


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