Thread: Children, trees, & felling-- A dangerous combination Child struck-by, Jan 2003

This is a couple of months old but is important. Its hard to imagine how badly this man must feel. Jobsite traffic control becomes so much more important when children are around.

Very few details are available except for the police investigation.

Carl


http://www.oakridger.com/stories/012...121030035.html

I have taken my children to work. They are older 14-15 but they are smallish girls. I constantly have to make sure they are in a safe location. Luckily, I am not falling any big trees. When we are working on the ranch it is ditto for looking around when I do fall trees because kids and (many people for that matter) tend to stand in the way. I take safety seriously yet I shudder to think of all the dumb or irresponsible things I have done and continue to do
I believe that protocols should be set up with even the smallest of companies. Personally, I consider felling a 5' x 75' tree a very serious job but I am inexperienced. It may be routine for some of you guys. In any event, safety protocols like spotters or stay back distances are a good idea. It may make you look anal to some but you would be the one who knows why you do the job the way you do..SAFETY.. Now, I need to practice what I preach!

I hope I never have to read a story like that again...

This is why we added "Trees that are being pruned" onto our 12 Signs of Hazard Trees page.

Bringing his 11 or 12 year old son to work was one thing that drove me nuts about Boss #2, not that there was not enough else there too. About the same age as this poor dead little guy. For the record the kid was not a bad one, I just do not think the father had any business exposing his child to hazards so unnecessarily, in fact I imagine there is a law preventing this on the books somewhere.

Those are awfully young kids to bring to work..

There was a local tree guy who was taking his 3-4yr old son to work every day for about 6months -may still be doing it. I spoke with a customer that used him, she said she was so worried about him being hurt in her yard that she took him inside to make sure he was out of the way. Said he was running around the chipper and bobcat all day long. She said they did good work (crane removal) but would never use him again becasue she thought the kid on the job was very irresponsible.

When felling trees (most of the time) I break out the cones to block off an area. I think taking these extra precautions are a good thing from a safty perspective as well as a sales/public relations perspective. Bright orange hard hats too. I now make my guys wear them on every job all day. I never see tree guys around here with hard hats except for Davey and they do very little residential work. Makes my crew look more professional.
Greg