Enforcing Safety

[BCMA]

I have decided it is time we as an industry start enforcing our safety regulations. These pictures were taken at a commercial establishment. There is absolutely no PPE. The pictures were sent to OSHA in our state for enforcement. OSHA tell me that they can and will levy fines from pictures. OSHA has already tried to contact the commercial establishment for their contact information. They said they can also through the Sherriff’s Department get personal information from a license plate. My pictures included the license plate, which happened to be out-of-state plates. The individuals were not state registered contractors, which is a law of our state.
I think it is time we start enforcing the laws, standards, and professionalism of our industry. Let me encourage other professionals to do the same.

 

[Pruitt1222]

Where do you send the pictures into?

 

[GlenWimpy]

Come on man , its TACO BELL!:greenchainsaw:

 

[Nailsbeats]

Let me not mince words with you. The last thing working people need is a nosey jerk like you sending pictures of them to the government. What facts do you have? How do you know they aren't volunteers working for free? Either way, you are truly a disgrace to the working man and the good in society.

If you want to enforce safety go work for OSHA, otherwise mind your own affairs jerkoff. I tell you what, the day is gonna come when men like me stand against men like you with force and vengence.

 

[fishercat]

i think he has already pissed several people off.

Let me not mince words with you. The last thing working people need is a nosey jerk like you sending pictures of them to the government. What facts do you have? How do you know they aren't volunteers working for free? Either way, you are truly a disgrace to the working man and the good in society.

If you want to enforce safety go work for OSHA, otherwise mind your own affairs jerkoff. I tell you what, the day is gonna come when men like me stand against men like you with force and vengence.

notice his location.kinda vague.

 

[treemandan]

Let me not mince words with you. The last thing working people need is a nosey jerk like you sending pictures of them to the government. What facts do you have? How do you know they aren't volunteers working for free? Either way, you are truly a disgrace to the working man and the good in society.

If you want to enforce safety go work for OSHA, otherwise mind your own affairs jerkoff. I tell you what, the day is gonna come when men like me stand against men like you with force and vengence.

Jeez, why don't you let him know how you really feel.

 

[GlenWimpy]

Jeez, why don't you let him know how you really feel.

How do you feel about Taco Bell?:monkey:

 

[fishercat]

%&*(#$@ing unbelievable!

people trying to make a living! what the hell is this world coming to?

i guess i'm gonna just start beating everyone i see with a camera.is that an OSHA violation?

 

[GlenWimpy]

people trying to make a living! what the hell is this world coming to?

i guess i'm gonna just start beating everyone i see with a camera.is that an OSHA violation?

As long as your wearing gloves and a hard hat , you can beat them all you want!

 

[treemandan]

How do you feel about Taco Bell?:monkey:

well, I have been known to eat a taco or two... buts that's as far as it goes.
I personally think whoever told them kids that what they where doing is OK should be locked up. But I am not going to turn rat, unless I really know.
There is a dude round here that is looking for a bucket truck operator, this bucket should be out of commission but it isn't and the owner is still looking for someone ( someone else besides him) to go up in it. I don't think I have much of choice on this.

 

[BCMA]

A couple of days ago I met and had breakfast with one of my main competitors. We talked about the numerous fly-by-night tree services in the area that have reciently started up. We both agreed that it was time to start doing our own policing, and try to raise the level of professionalism in our area. I’m not against a man making a living. I will help anyone who wants to come to me and ask for help.

Tomorrow, our family and the family of another competitor are going out on the lake to picnic and water ski. This is the third year of doing this.

My point is this- We have good comradely among us as professional tree care providers. We eat, play, and recreate together. We as professionals believe it is important to be legit and follow the rules. Do we sometimes fail…absolutely. Do we correct the problems as we find them…absolutely. In our company we want to foster a culture of safety so everyone goes home at the end of the day. It’s really a pretty simple concept.

 

[tree MDS]

I have decided it is time we as an industry start enforcing our safety regulations. These pictures were taken at a commercial establishment. There is absolutely no PPE. The pictures were sent to OSHA in our state for enforcement. OSHA tell me that they can and will levy fines from pictures. OSHA has already tried to contact the commercial establishment for their contact information. They said they can also through the Sherriff’s Department get personal information from a license plate. My pictures included the license plate, which happened to be out-of-state plates. The individuals were not state registered contractors, which is a law of our state.
I think it is time we start enforcing the laws, standards, and professionalism of our industry. Let me encourage other professionals to do the same.

What is your back hurting again??

Chill dude! Its just a couple lawn jockeys doing a hack elevation.

Big deal, happens all the time here - still real treework to be had.

 

[senechal]

Hey nailsbeats

You can give your argument to a fallen teenager's parents when they bury him after some ####### boss defied regulations and opted not to inform them.

Those screwballs make us all look bad, post the pics all day long and hi fives to all of you that are part of the solution.

 

[lego1970]

When guys like that get injured it affects everybodys workers comp rates but the last thing we need to do is give OSHA and other state agencies an excuse to dip their hands into the cookie jar. Next time something like that happens write down the company name and write them a letter explaining that while you understand PPE is a pain in the butt, especially on hot days, not wearing it is against the law and when injuries happens it affects all of us in the industry. I think most companies would rather read a tactful letter from you then have government officials thowing fines at em. Also I don't know how legal it is for you and your competitor to team up and try to monopolize the market, even if it's supposedly for the safety of the industry.

 

[rngrchad]

I know you really mean well but I have to do this.

Neg rep coming your way.

Just what we need more regulations and bigger government

 

[Bearcreek]

Let me not mince words with you. The last thing working people need is a nosey jerk like you sending pictures of them to the government. What facts do you have? How do you know they aren't volunteers working for free? Either way, you are truly a disgrace to the working man and the good in society.

If you want to enforce safety go work for OSHA, otherwise mind your own affairs jerkoff. I tell you what, the day is gonna come when men like me stand against men like you with force and vengence.

:agree2: Well said. I'll be with you on that day.

 

[Tree Pig]

Let me not mince words with you. The last thing working people need is a nosey jerk like you sending pictures of them to the government. What facts do you have? How do you know they aren't volunteers working for free? Either way, you are truly a disgrace to the working man and the good in society.

If you want to enforce safety go work for OSHA, otherwise mind your own affairs jerkoff. I tell you what, the day is gonna come when men like me stand against men like you with force and vengence.

Careful the liberals will call you an angry mob.

 

[pdqdl]

I'll give you points for guts...

I thought I was stirring up trouble a few posts back by picking fights with the tree mulchers and the tree fertilizers.

Wow! This topic seems to assure you of getting plenty of conflict.

I think perhaps a better approach might be to confront offenders personally. I'm afraid I don't believe in "bigger government", nor do I think that any amount of industry self-regulation would correct the problem. Chainsaws are on sale at every big box hardware store, and there are lots of folks that grew up without hearing protection, hard hats, or chaps.

 

[Curlycherry1]

Just to stirr the pot a bit. So let's say you are a good legit contractor. You are licensed, bonded, insured, and you pay all your worker's comp and other taxes. You work hard to provide a good service at a good price and you uphold a professional image in all your operations.

Then along comes some punks with a truck and a saw and they don't pay taxes because they work under the table. They underbid you because they pay none of the business fees, insurance and taxes that you pay. Their equipment is ****, and they have saved hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by not buying PPE for their workers. Meanwhile when one of them gets hurt on the job they just go to the emergency room and get treated and then leave and never pay the bill.

Next you find out the work they did is substandard and they damaged the trees that they were working on. The did improper cuts that peeled big hunks of bark down the trees and you now know that in 2-5 years the trees will be stressed enough that they will die. Yet, had you done the work the trees would have done just fine and not died from being trimmed.

As an honest hard working business man that has all the insurance/taxes/worker's comp etc paid up how does that make you feel?

I saw it all the time when I sold firewood. My wood was dry and had been cut and split for at least a full year. Yet hundreds of times in my career I would deliver to a house that had 1-3 cords of green as grass firewood sitting in the person's garage. They would buy the stuff from the yahoo with a truck and a saw that was backing up to an easy log and chopping it up and throwing it on the truck to sell it. No drying whatsoever, and cheap to a level I could not compete against. Meanwhile I was using ~$40K worth of equipment to get firewood from a real woods with water/bugs/mud/etc and sitting on my finished inventory of wood for a year so it was dry and ready to burn, safely, the moment it was delivered. Those yahoos with their trucks and their green wood pizzed me off big-time. Oh,and my dad made sure I had insurance in case I was hurt, and I was a few times. Firewooding is dangerous work.

I'm sorry but folks that do not follow the rules pizz me off. It is no different than drivers with cars that have no license, no registration and no insurance driving clunkers down the road. Being in business is no different. There are rules to protect everyone, they should be followed.

 

[pdqdl]

I agree with you on that. But I don't go down the road checking other driver's license plates, either.

The Romans had a nice phrase to cover the problems you described: "Caveat Emptor". Let the buyer beware. It is, after all, a free market system. Every regulation reduces the freedoms, but promises greater protections. The best balance is somewhere between no regulation and total government control.






[most folks don't know about the flip side of that phrase: "Caveat venditor". Let the seller beware.]