Mediocrity

[Jumper]

Week 2 over and done with at this new job.

Your input....What do you think about a climber (the one I work with) who in seven days of working together has

A. Dropped a large limb on a chain link fence and bent it all to pieces(the first thing I saw him do on the first day); and

B. Cut down the wrong tree(a 40 foot spruce) on the client's neighbour's land!!!!!(yesterday)

Nice guy, but both of these incidents were totally avoidable and the result of being in to much of a rush and not following common rigging practice or written instructions. The latest incident he has blamed on improper directions, yet I was pretty sure he had cut down an extra tree from the beginning-the estimate seemed pretty clear and concise to me. Regretably I was helping the other climber when he started to cut, and the tree was dropped by the time I ran for the invoice to confirm the error(Should this really be my concern as the ground guy anyways???) Why would you cut seven trees down if the diagram clearly showed six? A natural climber but apparently a hazard whilst in the trees (co workers have told be this), and I know for a fact this is not the first time he has cut down the wrong tree-he used to work at the first place I was at.

I am sure there is going to be a big dust up at work Monday morning and I am not too keen on being part of it. I knew we had only six trees to remove, and this one was clearly on the adjacent lot!!! This whole mess is beginning to make me wonder how safe a climber this person is, and is he going to f it up sometime when I am in a position to get injured??

I hate mediocre behavior from a so called professional.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I think your gut feelings are telling you something.

You should have a talk with the boss, you have enough experiance under your belt be able to do this tactfully. Maybe suggest that all trees to be removed be marked prior to starting. give them all the dot of death with a orange spray can.

Who is the foreman for the crew? If there is no designated person, then ask for the job. You have leadership experiance.

Once the incriminations start to fly on mondya, calmly state, "instead of trying to place blame, let's set a procedure to keep this from happening again. We need a set prejob briefing whioch all workers listen to..."

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Can't stand hapless mediocrity;
when a customer asks if i'm gonna crush their fence; i tell'em "... of course not, you could do that yourself and wouldn't have called me to do it...............".



Most workers these days don't seem to give a care about apathy, and 5 outta 4 seem to be bad at fractions.

 

[kf_tree]

i always follow some simple rules. if in doubt put a rope on it. if your not sure if the piece will clear, take a small piece as a test cut off the same crotch's. as for cutting down the wrong tree, if in doubt leave it. you could always come back and get it later. better to cut too little than too much.

 

[budroe69moni]

cut down the wrong tree??????

jumper,
you've gotta let us know what happens!!!!!!
did the neighbor go nuts or what?????
i like jps suggestion about asking for the
foreman position. go for it bro!
budroe

 

[Tom Dunlap]

There are many ways to gain insights into a person's mind set. This guy seems like a walking/climbing hazard. You're right to be concerned having him around. How does anyone know when he might drop something on a co-worker or injure himself which would put the rest of the crew in the position of doing a rescue. Sounds like a "loose cannon".

Tom

 

[Stumper]

Trying to give him the benefit of the doubt-any chance this guy is extremely fatigued? I have never fouled up a job/cut neighbors trees etc. but when I go too long without some rest days I start leaving tools behind and other stupid things that show I'm having difficulty staying focused. I'm trying to be generous-the guy sounds dangerous.

 

[Jumper]

Re: cut down the wrong tree??????

Originally posted by budroe69moni
jumper,
you've gotta let us know what happens!!!!!!
did the neighbor go nuts or what?????
i like jps suggestion about asking for the
foreman position. go for it bro!
budroe

The neighbour was not home....so no fireworks while we were there.

As for comments about a briefing before starting a job-wonderful idea. Believe we called them an O Group in the Army JP. Both these incidents would not have happened if "X" had slowed down a little bit and thought about the task at hand instead of jumping in chainsaw blazing. I fully realize Murphy lurks closeby in all aspects of tree work, but it burns my ass to see stupid mistakes made that are 100% preventable.

As for being the i/c, this is not going to happen with this company, for starters the owner is not going to pay me another cent as he pays a learning climber the same as I get to stay on the ground. Fine it is his company. At least with Victor there were freebies, ie firewood for me and my sister, use of the chipper and truck one quiet day to clear my yard waste, and the occasional use of another vehicle. This is not going to happen here, and that too is OK.

The owner now has a business manager ie bean counter working for him who is deciding how much time each job should take, the removal of six 30-40 ft trees, two of which could not be dropped in one piece was allocated the sum total of two hours, for a fee of $400. The fee should have been $100 per for a total of $600 and 4 hours. The the chipper would not start, the story keeps getting better......

I read the invoice and it clearly said 6 fir and hemlock trees, not 7, and even showed the six on the diagram. The first tip off was that the one cut in error was clearly on the neighbour's property. Regretably I was helping the other climber when the cutting started and by the time I ran for the detailed instructions, the damage was done.

Anyways, travelling two hours a day for this kind of $$$$ is not a long term solution to my work situation. nor is being paid Mondays so you have no time to go to the bank, not to mention $$$ for the weekend when you have time to spend it. First place I ever have heard of that pays its employees on a weekly basis on Mondays. That and a rather casual attitude towards unsafe equipment (the previously mentioned ladder) has convinced me it is time to seek something else.

Maybe I expect too much, but as stated I hate the mediocre.

 

[Jumper]

Originally posted by Stumper
Trying to give him the benefit of the doubt-any chance this guy is extremely fatigued? I.

I doubt it-we had the day prior off due to rain, so he should have had his act together.

 

[Jumper]

and other stupid things that show I'm having difficulty staying focused. I'm trying to be generous-the guy sounds dangerous. [/B]

How about driving to work that morning at well in excess of 100mph at one point, and brushing it off with "I did not realize I was going so fast" (I had said nothing but we sure seemed to passing a lot of cars on the 417). There is something a little warped upstairs, lights on but no one home, but I can not put my finger on it. Manic?? Attention deficit disorder? This is sad, because he is not a bad guy in a social sence, just cluttered in the head.

 

[treeman82]

I have cut trees on neighbor's properties before. However those trees were small, dead, and were definate hazards to my customer's properties / driveways / houses / etc. If it's not a hazard AND dead then I don't even think about it. When I do cut trees on the neighbor's property it is after my customer tells me to do it.

 

[budroe69moni]

payday on mondays......

i worked one christmas break as a gopher
on a construction site. the general contractor
paid everyone on mondays. i thought this was
a little weird but you should have seen the
other guys i was working with.up monday a.m.
if paid on friday, 1/2 of the crew would go on a
weekend binge and call in sick monday
just a thought,
budroe

 

[Jumper]

Re: payday on mondays......

Originally posted by budroe69moni
i worked one christmas break as a gopher
on a construction site. the general contractor
paid everyone on mondays. i thought this was
a little weird but you should have seen the
other guys i was working with.up monday a.m.
if paid on friday, 1/2 of the crew would go on a
weekend binge and call in sick monday
just a thought,
budroe

I understand the rationale of not paying Friday morning, but it strikes me as being a little jerkish to assume all your employees are going to spend the whole weekend drunk or stoned and cause a problem Monday am. Reminds me of the Army, punish everyone because one screws up.

 

[Tim Gardner]

Jumper, you need to pull this guy to the side and explain to him that your safety and job are on the line and that he needs to focus on his work before a block of wood accidentally falls on his head four or five times when no one is looking.

 

[Jumper]

Originally posted by Tim Gardner
that he needs to focus on his work before a block of wood accidentally falls on his head four or five times when no one is looking.

I think this already has happened.

 

[mikey]

Jumper,You sound like a heads up guy,cutting the wrong tree is one thing but, riding with someone going over 100mph is in a league of its own.No such thing as a minor accident at that speed.Take care of your safety first,I'm sure the boss will take care of the wrong tree deal.Safety goes beyond the job.Keep us posted.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

"Safety is Job 1"

"Safety is everybody's buisness and responsibility"

i beleive you have the right to say something about such issues on any job, that unwritten, underlying any position is person-all and communal safety; even mopping floors, any job.

In hazardous duty jobs that is even more imperative.

i was just with a few climbers from around town at a birhtday party for the owner of a small tree biz. 1 ol'climber was talking about bungy jumping, riding a slingshot 180' in the air, Harley @140mph, that he was in all this for the adrenline rush and to see how far he could push it! i said i was in it for the brain exercise of collecting data and thinking my way out, of beating the puzzle with grace in a very tough environment, real competittion, he said "No, No...."

Just 2 diffrent views i guess!

 

[kf_tree]

if he wants to drive 100 mph plus, thats fine. just pull over and let me out. the responsibility has to start some where. when i had my business i saw them come and go. it amazed me when guys claiming to have 10-15-20 years experiance just were not that good. after climbing for 5 years i was still better, faster and SAFER than them. when i drive my boss's trucks with his name on the side i do not speed, i stop to let women and children cross the street. basicly i know what its like to run a business so i try my best to do the right thing. as for the paying it mondays, it sounds like he had problems with crews not showing up. so he now expects every one to screw him. i had a guy work for me that sounds the same as the character you work with. then i found out he went for methadone in the morning. i was on the job and told him to prune a magnolia. he stepped up in it and blew the top out so the tree was just a sling shot. i screamed "what are you doing" he said i thought it was a removal. he would just go off in space, he did not last long. i'm sorry your having such a hard time trying to hook up with a good crew. keep looking there has to be some good people out there in your area.

 

[Jumper]

Update

What a F Up. In the course of the "discussion" this morning about this little fiasco, my name came up, ie "Well Mitch knew that tree was not supposed to come out, because I saw him with the estimate" . I guess I am guilty by association, because the only reason I suspected something was amiss was because of the location of the tree, and not because I had read the estimate(I had quickly). I did not really enjoy having my name thrown into the fire as well-if I was a boss or climber OK, but I am a herbie groundguy who really should not to worry about such things. I very nearly walked, but our boss in his infinate wisdom "forgot" to write our paychecks for today. I hate being lied at. So tomorrow I think I will go in but "forget" to bring all my gear with me and leave as soon as I have it in my hands, and hope I get the rest of the money owed later.

 

[Tim Gardner]

Jumper,

You need to beat the sh!t out of that guy!