HEGARTY ON HEALTH AND SAFETY NEWS
Tree felling with a twist
Never one to shy away from a challenge, the tree in our back garden definitely needed cutting down, and so we set the date (me and him) to gather the tools and equipment for the job and hoped that the weather would be kind to us!
“Practice what you preach” was the mantra that popped into my head, so I planned the task like any I would plan and/or review in the workplace, complete with hard hat, gloves, glasses, suitable footwear and a well maintained step ladder (footed by him when I was on it and secured against the tree itself). We cleared the area of anything that might
get in the way of the operation and set a ground sheet on the grass to gather all the lopped branches. Then I got up the step ladder with the loppers to start trimming the higher branches. The most hazardous part of this task was listening to the rubbish jokes (e.g.
‘call into that branch’ and ‘make a trunk call’)! Then, over to the man with the saw to get
through the thicker branches and start cutting into the trunk. Working out which way the bigger branches could fall, with some direction and no damage to other shrubs and plants nearby, the tree was soon down to shoulder height (for little me anyway) and time to tidy everything into the two builders’ bags. It was at this stage, that it really struck me
how an organisation can ensure that the minimum legal requirements in health and safety are adhered to in the workplace at the very least, with regard to their work activities, by means of a health and safety
management system, using the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle. It’s amazing what pops into my head as I’m picking up branches strewn across the ground sheet and popping them into the bags, keeping my back straight and my knees bent of course! Compare this then to how most normal
folk go about tackling domestic projects when the legal requirements imposed in the workplace do not apply! Does the domestic vacuum cleaner attract similar consideration as a trip hazard, a portable electrical item that requires to be PAT tested or to have a separate manual handling risk assessment completed for each member of the household who operates it (because we realise it isn’t just the senior female in the family who uses it)? Similarly, does the regular use of the
household desktop PC or the work laptop use at home require Display Screen Equipment assessment, sitting on a fully adjustable chair and set up with screen at the correct height and with keyboard directly in front of the user? Smoke detectors in all domestic
households are essential and well promoted by the Fire Service because they save lives! But, these also require to be tested, batteries changed regularly and the units themselves
replaced every 8 to 10 years. In addition, a fire plan can be useful for families to consider and have in place for all members of the family (and visitors who stay from time to time or regularly) ‘just in case’ they need to know how to react and escape in the event of a fire. Carbon monoxide escaping from faulty
gas appliances continues to claim lives in domestic properties, so a carbon monoxide detector should also be fitted where these appliances are present. Back to the gardening scenario, the cause
of many back injuries and sprains to other parts, partly due to the few days of good weather that we get in this country, but also because we can forget (unlike other exercise such as walking, running or cycling) to ‘warm up’ before we participate in this particular form of exercise! I’m pleased to say that we completed our
tree felling and subsequent tidy-up with only a few scrapes to my arm and a bit of a bruise where I ‘bumped’ clumsily into one of the bigger branches of the tree and it was with a huge sense of achievement that I scanned a van full of tree parts and some stray bits of wood heading off to the local recycling centre. Good job well done, or Plan, Do, Check, Act?
Alison Hegarty CMIOSH is a Safety Consultant and Trainer at Hegarty Safety Enterprises. Alison advises and trains in a wide range of sectors including waste management industries. You can contact Alison on 07983 600 697 or email at
hegse@outlook.com.
18 SHM August 2015 Issue 117 Register your email for news and updates at
www.skiphiremagazine.co.uk
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