employee may be exposed to on any single day. For hand-arm vibration the ELV is a daily exposure of 5m/s2
A(8). It represents a
high risk above which employees should not be exposed. Vibration data for particular machines, such as chainsaws, can be obtained from the manufacturer’s handbook or from the HSE. Employers can use this, and online tools available from the HSE or the services of a specialist consultant, to determine whether an employee is at risk. Preventative action includes steps limiting the amount of time spent using a particular machine, selecting machinery which has lower vibration ratings, and ensuring machinery is well maintained, eg that chainsaw teeth are sharpened regularly (following the manufacturer’s recommendations) to maintain the machine’s efficiency and to reduce the time it takes to complete the work.
www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/index.htm
SawPoints
Pitchcare is also a Lantra Awards Registered Training Provider. We have strong links with our associate
Pitchcare Training Partners and work with a network of other Training Providers throughout the UK to offer a wide range of arboricultural training, including Basic Tree Survey and Inspection and Professional Tree Inspection courses. This means that we can often source local courses for our individual members, which can greatly reduce travel time and time “off the job”. For minimum groups of four we are usually able to arrange training on your site, delivered by a registered Lantra Awards instructor, providing you have suitable woodland areas. It may therefore be worth approaching neighbouring golf courses, sports associations, parish councils etc. to see if they have staff who could join with you. The most popular Chainsaw modules for our members include:
- CS30 Chainsaw Maintenance and Basic Crosscutting
- CS31 Fell and Process Small Trees 200mm- 380mm
- CS32 Fell and process medium trees 380mm-760mm
- CS38 Climb trees and perform aerial rescue
- CS39 Use of chainsaw from rope and harness
- CS40 Carry out pruning operations - CS41 Carry out dismantling operations - CS47 Use of a chainsaw from a MEWP - CS48 Powered pole pruners
We can also provide training on Stump Grinders, Brushcutters, Brushwood Chippers and other arboricultural equipment. For further information on general chainsaw training and qualification, I suggest you follow this link to the Health and Safety Executive’s website
http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/sectors/ag_fo od/1_04_02.pdf If you are interested in any of these courses for yourself or your staff, contact
chris@pitchcare.com.
54 Belton Woods, Lincolnshire
AS a relatively new course, Belton Woods in Lincolnshire features mainly newly planted trees, for which minimal maintenance is required. Head Greenkeeper, Angus McLeod, comments that many older trees within the country club grounds have tree preservation orders on them, requiring negotiation with the local authority before any work is done on them. “I employ greenkeepers with LANTRA
tree work qualifications. We have done a lot of planting, and have recently changed the management regime to move away from strimming under the trees, developing a richer environment and enhancing their health.” Angus previously worked at Newport Golf Course, part of a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) and with 60 acres of woodland at its heart, and has used his experiences to help in his new position. “Newport has lots of ancient
hedgerows and protected trees, some of which form strategic aspects of the course layout. Work included raising crowns to allow golfers to play
underneath, and I also used contractors to pollard trees which had been affected by fungi. It was a costly process - £800 per day when £2000 would have covered felling, but it enabled us to save important trees,” he explains.
develop a good relationship with the local authority tree officer. “Get the tree officer on board with what you are doing, and they are less likely to object when you do have to take a tree down. I’d like to pollard some of the old oaks at Belton Woods, and am working with the tree officer to progress this. In addition, the tree officer tends to stay on site when we have arboricultural contractors in, and offers more cost effective advice and help than using a consultant.” Another new project involving the contractor is the development of a new rock climbing area for the country club, which will necessitate the planting of a number of new trees, which will also come under Angus’s remit.
Golf course case studies Tyrrells Wood, Surrey
The parkland setting of Tyrrells Wood Golf Course in Surrey is resplendent with mature trees and Course Manager, Billy MacMillan, has the services of three chainsaw-trained greenkeepers and a trusted contractor to keep them looking their best. “We deal with windblown or fallen timber ourselves and undertake pruning up to head height. Anything else is down to our contractor, with whom we have worked for eight years, so he knows the course well,” he explains. “I tend to accumulate tree work jobs to bring the contractor in for a full day.”
to the public highway, which runs through the course, required the skills of a specialist arborist plus a traffic management crew, as Billy explains: “We were asked by the local authority to remove 28 trees, most of which were mature beech some 95ft tall, so the road had to be closed between 9.00am and 3.00pm. The work required some complex planning, as we also had to zone the course, close certain holes, cordon off the work site and set up temporary playing facilities to protect the golfers.” Several of the members have formed an arboreal group to take care of replanting, with the emphasis on indigenous species.
A major clearance operation adjacent
existing woodland, with whips transplanted out onto the course, while we have also hired in a tree spade or used a 360 excavator to provide larger rootballed trees. We are keen on succession - the course has a number of majestic trees, and if they are lost it would have a significant impact on the landscape, so we need to have replacements ready.” There is, of course, one downside to this many trees. Billy reckons that his team spend three and a half months clearing leaves in the autumn. But, continuing the green approach, the debris is composted and then spread in the woodland.
“Some of the stock comes from the
Angus suggests that it is important to
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