anyone not been hurt?

[frashdog]

Doing tree work that is? My buddy is trying to tell me that every tree guy/gal has or will get hurt. I disagreed with him that there has to be some really careful folks out there. Anyone not get hurt, or hurt a lot?

Argument stemed from me climbing for prune jobs solo. Nothing technical. I do not think twice about other solo high risk events such as rock/ice, motorcycle, skiing, white water kayaking. Actually I think I'm more careful solo knowing that I have no one else to help me out , or to show off for, so stay sharp and think!

Personally I think driving in you're vehicle is the most dangerous thing we do due to the frequency rates and forces involved, let alone yellow paint is not a good barrier to prevent a car coming in the other direction from swerving a few feet in your direction.

 

[1CallLandscape]

I climbb solo and im pretty cautious also but there is always margin for error. last week i got wacked in the face by a pretty large limb while cutting with the power pruner. branch slid down the pole and hit me, happened in a blink of an eye. im ok but it smartened me up alot.... everybody will sustain an injury of some type. the risk just comes with the job. like a chef cutting himself with a knife type of a deal.
-mike

 

[SilentElk]

If you disregard normal branch slaps and scraps and an occasional bruise, I have never been hurt requiring medical attention or where I should have recieved it. No stitches or broken bones or the like. I have had a gazillion scratchs on my arms though.

 

[pbtree]

I have been hurt, and I cannot think of anyone I know in this business who has not been...

 

[treeseer]

Good for you, Dan--hope you keep that record into retirement.

Here's the same question answered in 2003:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=8598&highlight=injured

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

That is one reason your insurance rates are so high..........because you (tree workers in general) are willing to accept getting hurt on the job is acceptable, that it is OK, that you are not a true "tree man" unless you have the scars to prove it.

 

[treeseer]

nycha you are so wrong--I got more scars than I do brains, but they are a source of shame, making me not a tree man but a recovering tree man-iac who is now big on PPE and deliberation.

The fact that I'm now training my 16-yr old also makes me extra careful...

 

[1CallLandscape]

That is one reason your insurance rates are so high..........because you (tree workers in general) are willing to accept getting hurt on the job is acceptable, that it is OK, that you are not a true "tree man" unless you have the scars to prove it.

No matter what job you have your gonna get hurt sooner or later. nobody is "willing" to get hurt or even wants to have to tell that they have been hurt but i guess thats why they call them accidents. Its the guys that get hurt from sheer stupidity that need a good slap in the face to wake them up to safety some times. Personally ive had a few wake up calls, nothing major like nicking my self with the bowsaw, wacked in the face by branchs, pulled muscels...... nothing needing a hospital trip but ive seeen some other guys take some pretty nasty falls, gafs to the leg, saw wounds and some real gory stuff.

-mike

 

[Dadatwins]

That is one reason your insurance rates are so high..........because you (tree workers in general) are willing to accept getting hurt on the job is acceptable, that it is OK, that you are not a true "tree man" unless you have the scars to prove it.

Actually the rates are so high because the insurance industry lumps together every untrained and unskilled homeowner and landscraper wanna-be-tree-climber that falls out of a tree, or drops a tree on a structure together with the professional arborist that have mostly never been seriously hurt or caused major damage.
Back to the question. I can honestly say aside from a few bumps, scrapes, and handsaw nicks I have not been hurt doing treework. I did break my knee slipping on a wet running board getting into a truck years ago. I also popped an ankle after getting hit by a bus while flagging traffic, and popped a wrist climbing a ladder on a brush truck that later got infected after surgury to repair the torn tendon. Funny thing is all these injuries occured either before working on the tree or after, but during the actual cutting of the tree I have been fine. Guess that makes me a safe tree climber but a disaster before and after.

 

[maxburton]

I've been doing tree work for only 5 years, and the worst I ever had was a Walnut tree split open while my lanyard was around it. I got squeezed pretty good and went to the hospital to make sure nothing got broken or messed up. I was fine, though. Other than that, bruises and cuts. And, of course, the occasional flow from a hand saw nick.

I never work alone, I want someone to always be there to make the call if neccessary.

 

[clearance]

Hurt to me is when you cannot work the next day, wage loss injuries count, they raise the rate for the employer and usualy mean serious. I have got stitches lots of times, bruises and scratches are not worth mentioning. Cut myself bad when I was spacing back in '94, only wage loss during tree work. What is important is that you learn from experience. Treeseer is ashamed of his scars, buddy, they mean more than tattoos, I would rather the couple of big scars on my arm than the names off my exes in a heart.

 

[avalontree]

Confidence ='s pain

I think I know your buddy. Anway, I've been dancin in trees for a few years now, from Georgia to Rhode Island. Not much to climb here in Upstate New York, but as a friend of mine says, "Dude, you're in the lungs of the universe, and the universe is everywhere." Whatever that means.

Everyone gets hurt doing trees and the more you think you won't the more likely you will. I've knicked myself and scraped my self and had white pine tops come back at me that should of had a rope (learned from that one) that I fortunatly avoided. And of course I've had climbing saws get ripped out of my hand from too big willow trees (learned from that one).

Scars are teachers and, unfortunatley in this business, you need teachers.

All it takes is one mistake that may have had nothing to do with you.

Like Max said, " I never work alone"

God aint gonna call 911 for ya.

 

[frashdog]

Everyone gets hurt doing trees and the more you think you won't the more likely you will.

Good thing I don't think I will not get hurt.

Scars are teachers and, unfortunatley in this business, you need teachers.

I see injuries and close calls as lessons along my self taught course on life. Pay enough attention and you might just learn some good stuff that can help you out later.

Getting hurt is part of life not just tree work. From the most "percieved" high risk events we take part in to seemingly routine safe events, people have sustained minor injuries or even died you said it

All it takes is one mistake that may have had nothing to do with you.

 

[frashdog]

So, then there are poeple that have not been hurt doing tree work.....I mean yet.

 

[woodchux]

I've been hurt doing construction long ago.
But never while doing tree work.(not seriously)

 

[1I'dJak]

i'm hurtin right now thats for sure! big scabby sores on my shins from the spurs... i'm doing forestry topping right now so i'm on the spurs all day driving up the big trees... with time off and res work the shins were a little soft... finally bought some stretchy soccer shin pads... bloody well hurts though...should've done that the first day!

 

[rebelman]

I've trimmed and removed many thousands of trees. In 94 i slipped a new spike deep behind my knee. A few years ago a pole saw came hurtling down and cut a finger good. Those ten or so stitches didn't keep me off the job at all. Not bad I'd say. I cut myself with my climbing saw all the time, Just not while it is running.

 

[sal b]

there's hurt and then there's injured. you can work hurt but you cant work injured

 

[pigwot]

When the tri-cut handsaws came out I nicked a finger. Another time I had just sharpened a chain, went to step over the fallen log to start bucking it up, and the cuff of my pants caught on the stub of a small branch. That caused me to trip. I caught myself, but not before I hit my knee on the bar of the non-running chainsaw. The freshly sharpened tooth I kneed deftly cut a slice of flesh right over my kneecap and about 2 inches long. Since it flexed so much it would not stop bleeding until I got it sewn up. Came right back and finished clearing the lot. Only fell once, about 8 inches: had stepped up on a branch, and was tending slack in my climbing line when the apparently solid oak 6" diameter branch broke off. Been lucky compared to many others in this area...

 

[Grizzly]

I've never been injured climbing other than a million small scratches.

I did get a nasty chain saw cut to my leg back in 87' but I was lucky and it was just a flesh wound.

those scratches come with the job. no matter what o do to protect my skin, either my hands get all black and cut up, or my arms turn a blod red.

No major accidents with the chainsaw, but when i was putting my chain on one day, i sliced my finger open trying to move the chain. Man I hated that saw.:deadhorse: :angry2: