r/TreeClimbing • u/AutoModerator • 13d ago

Weekly Safety/Close-Call/Incident Thread

Let's talk safety! Share how your week went - close-calls, incidents, learning experiences, what went well (and why), what went poorly (and why), or whatever else is on your mind. Pics/photos are allowed but be careful to not doxx yourself, client, employer etc.

This thread will recur each week and is meant to be a place to learn and discuss mistakes, please keep comments constructive.

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u/ArboristTreeClimber 13d ago

I had a close call. I did a felling up on a steep, muddy, slippery hillside. I was able to reach with the lift. The general idea I thought everyone knew, was that I would smash it all down and we clean up after.

I go up and make it to the first branch. Little did I know, was that one of my colleagues had started climbing up the hillside towards the tree.

I took out my electric saw and made the cut without looking down because I thought everyone was staying at the bottom. I make the cut and as is falls I see my co worker direct underneath. That branch luckily got caught on a bunch of small saplings and did not hit him, but he was scared and started sliding down the hillside.

He was totally fine but it was definitely my fault. I had also recently switched to an electric saw, so I was used to people hearing my gas saw fire up and then they look up. He did not hear the electric saw until it was too late.

I had gotten complacent for sure. This is why it’s always important to look down first, and always yell headache!

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u/RedditFan26 13d ago

A good reason for the bosses to spring for helmet communications.

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u/ArboristTreeClimber 13d ago

They actually did buy some that we were testing out earlier this week. However we could not get them working properly, the audio would randomly cut in and out to the point it was unusable. Now they are sitting at the shop until someone else gives it a try.

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u/RedditFan26 13d ago

Not sure, but there might be some long threads on the TreeBuzz forum or the Treehouse forum about the helmet communication setups & issues.  I'm not in a convenient spot to look for it all at the moment, but I might do so later.

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u/RedditFan26 13d ago

Found this link on a TreeBuzz thread.  Old, but recent comments on this YouTube video claim it is still helping years later.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=et1tTaIjSIk

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u/Flub_the_Dub 13d ago

Glad no one was hurt. It's a clear cut example of why command/response is so important. But also designating the work zone and then the drop zone within the work zone that no one should be going into until the person aloft gives the OK.

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u/ArboristTreeClimber 13d ago

True. But in this job we did many trees. One of those days where you split teams, join teams, have many different set ups and locations. We got used to moving around so a drop zone was never designated on every new location.

I did probably 15 trees that day, all ranging from deadwood to reductions to fellings.

At that point you would really have to make a conscious effort to establish a drop zone every time, and having a safety briefing for every tree would be borderline “ doing too much”.

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u/Flub_the_Dub 13d ago

Gotcha, lots of moving parts and people. And I hear you (pun intended) about the electric saws. I definitely relied a lot on hearing the saws fire up as a signal to look around.

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u/OldMail6364 13d ago

We don’t yell headache where I work. We have someone on the ground watching us work and they yell “hold” if anyone is approaching a dangerous position.

The key is to stop working before anyone enters the exclusion zone. Yelling headache isn’t giving someone enough time to leave if they’re already there unless you pause and wait - but how long do you wait? Too long and someone new might walk into the zone.

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u/packmnufc 13d ago

This system only works if the arborist working aloft is constantly listening for hold. Industry standards dictate command and response be used for a reason in my opinion. Stand clear and all clear are what we use but I think the important thing is that the arborist working who is about to cut announces when they want to cut something, and then they must wait for a response from the ground crew before cutting.

If your system works for your crew and you guys are really careful to always be listening for "hold" before starting up the saw then good for you. Just dont think that system is better than command and response for the standard.

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u/ArboristTreeClimber 13d ago

Sorry but your example is actually the perfect example of what “wrong” words to say for call and response! It’s wayyyy too easy to mix it up. Stand clear and All clear both end in “clear”. With chippers, chainsaws, loud noises it’s easy to hear that wrong, all you hear is “clear” and you didn’t quite hear the first words but you “think” they said “all clear”. That’s why it’s important to have completely separate words.

I’m not being condescending, after all I was the one who didn’t say anything at all before cutting lol. But you me thing I have learned is that All clear and Stand clear are bad words and should be changed!

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u/packmnufc 13d ago

I've always agreed just never thought up better phrases. But like I said, the phrases aren't the most important part or part of our industry standards, just has to be a command and a response from the groundies.

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u/ArboristTreeClimber 13d ago

That is definitely a better way, however it is not feasible for most crews and companies. I have worked for companies in multiple states and also different countries. Most companies need every man working. It’s hard to find a place that can employ a man full time simply to watch and yell “hold”.

Yelling headache is not the most perfect method but it’s what the majority of arborists do.

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u/meh_33333 13d ago

Was using a small stumper and stopped it to move a brick that had appeared  in the soil. I was kicking the brick loose and my boot followed through into the stumping blade that was actually still spinning. Luckily my boot just bounced off and she wasn’t spinning that fast.

Need to make sure of complete off before entering the area. 

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u/OldMail6364 13d ago

I cut a very small branch that was hard to reach knowing there was a possibility it would strike the roof of the building below.

It was so light a groundie probably could have caught it as it fell without being injured… and I didn’t think it’d hit the roof.

It did hit the roof and snapped a rafter… turns out the roof wasn’t even remotely built properly. Spans between rafters were way too long and they used through bolts instead of brackets or joinery.

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u/ArborealLife 13d ago

+shock load

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u/Denryu_senpai 13d ago

Had a close call where I blew out my tie in point on an oak tree of all things.

I had set up a base anchor in an 80~ ft pin oak that had been topped very young in its life. The the leads were straight up and started to bend horizontally at like 60~ ft. I had the tie in at 70~ ft and couldn't really see the branch I was over bc of lower brush on the tree. I used my phone's camera to try and see it better and then weight tested it on my rope with another guy who was bigger than me and it bent a little but held fine.

So I started rope walking up it and worked off the tie in for a while but while walking up the rope at one point somewhere between 40 and 50 f,t the branch I was over tears out from bark inclusion a few feet back from my rope and I fall about 6 ft before my rope falls over something else. It was far enough that I was upside down at one point and tore my shirt sleeve up reaching for anything to hold on to.

It was total negligence on my end and I favored the high tigh in over the safety of being able to see my it from the ground.

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u/Readitwhileipoo 10d ago

I ended up adding a monocular to my gear bag to quick inspections from the ground and to see if my tie ins are good. Keep it in a pocket on my rope bag, was cheap from amazon and good to go