near miss

[imagineero]

Had a near miss last week that I thought was worth putting up.

We were taking a euc down in a tight space, and it was reasonably tall. Using a 2 pulley setup with a friction drum and a single lowering rope and a tag line. Normally we use different colored ropes for rigging and tags, and I try to not ever buy 2 ropes of the same color when I can help it but this particular day we were up pretty high and the tags were too short so we ended up using another lowering rope as a tag which was the same color. I'm sure you can see where this is heading.

One the second last pick, the guy on the drum got confused between the tag and the lower rope and put the tag on the drum while the other guy grabbed the lowering rope. When I tripped the piece, the drum was obviously holding nothing. Luckily the guy on the tag had the sense to drop it and all ropes ran free. The piece came down and caused minor damage to a fence - knocked a couple palings off which we were able to refasten.

This story could have had a very different ending. The ropes could have caused injury, or the piece itself could have landed on property or crew. We practice not ever having crew standing in the LZ which is a good thing. I was very close to the tree, and it was awfully tempting to try to grab the rope! Rigging can fail, or situations like this can occur. We generally try to keep the lower rope flaked into a bin, and the tag a different color but on this particular day quite a lot of tail had been left on the ground and the tag had crossed it which caused the confusion.

After reviewing the event and talking about it we came to the conclusion it wasn't really the fault of the guy, it was just a bum situation that we shouldn't have put ourselves into. We decided to make it a hard rule to use a different colored tag from the lower off, even if it means tying two ropes together. Keeping the lower rope flaked in a bin is also a good thing for so many reasons.

 

[Zale]

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[buzz sawyer]

It's great that you did an analysis and corrective action instead of just saying "Whew, that was a close one" and going on with life. Is the new process written down for future reference and training?
Now that I think about it - does anyone in this business keep a manual of basic rules / methods / guidelines?

 

[Pelorus]

I made a dumb mistake last year while negative blocking a beech; actually forgot to hook up the lowering line after I had made the face cut. Tag line was already in place. Groundies went and pretensioned the lowering line on the porty, and I proceeded with the back cut....It was purely impressive how fast that piece ran, but thankfully it didn't destroy anything. Was way more "focused" after that one.

 

[tree MDS]

I made a dumb mistake last year while negative blocking a beech; actually forgot to hook up the lowering line after I had made the face cut. Tag line was already in place. Groundies went and pretensioned the lowering line on the porty, and I proceeded with the back cut....It was purely impressive how fast that piece ran, but thankfully it didn't destroy anything. Was way more "focused" after that one.

Forgot to put lowering line through the pulley? I've done that a few times over the years. Same deal, got lucky each time. I know that feeling of waiting for the impact, and then the piece just sailing down. Thankfully I was only thinking of lawn damage two out of the three times. Other time some hostas bit it. Lol.

 

[Pelorus]

Lowering line was through a block and had a steel biner on it.
The dummy running the porty was as oblivious as this dummy (me).

 

[imagineero]

It's great that you did an analysis and corrective action instead of just saying "Whew, that was a close one" and going on with life. Is the new process written down for future reference and training?
Now that I think about it - does anyone in this business keep a manual of basic rules / methods / guidelines?

We don't have a written training program, and we don't have many hard rules. I find written training records are mainly a way for company's to avoid their liability. Maybe I should have one ;-)

I used to run a company in the mines years ago and the documentation drove me mad. Permits, training records, inductions and safety records are critical daily things in that industry, you can't undertake even the simplest job without written and approved SWA's/JSA's, work permits, hot works permits, confined space permits, a method statement, spotters etc.... which all need to be counter signed (before and after) by different people who you can never find. Literally turns a 10 minute welding job into a 12 hour shift for 2 or 3 men.

I kind of like that our training is less formal and more suited to the person receiving it when they're ready for it. Some insurers will give you a discount on workers comp if you have a written safety plan, safety auditing and regular toolbox talks but I checked with mine and they said no.

 

[imagineero]

Glad no one was hurt.

That's definitely the first emotion you feel once your heart starts beating again after seeing that piece go flying down. What a relief! That's followed immediately by anger and wanting to abuse someone ;-) Which is then followed by some rational thought at a later point.

 

[buzz sawyer]

We don't have a written training program, and we don't have many hard rules. I find written training records are mainly a way for company's to avoid their liability. Maybe I should have one ;-)

I used to run a company in the mines years ago and the documentation drove me mad. Permits, training records, inductions and safety records are critical daily things in that industry, you can't undertake even the simplest job without written and approved SWA's/JSA's, work permits, hot works permits, confined space permits, a method statement, spotters etc.... which all need to be counter signed (before and after) by different people who you can never find. Literally turns a 10 minute welding job into a 12 hour shift for 2 or 3 men.

I kind of like that our training is less formal and more suited to the person receiving it when they're ready for it. Some insurers will give you a discount on workers comp if you have a written safety plan, safety auditing and regular toolbox talks but I checked with mine and they said no.

Understood - didn't mean to imply that I favor a bureaucratic nightmare, I just went through that myself (and will be out of a job soon because of it). I meant only that extremely important items and corrections be documented for training so they are not overlooked. That can work to prevent injury AND company liability.

 

[imagineero]

Every time I read an attempt like that though, I want to shoot myself in the head. I do enjoy seeing the suffering of others so maybe I should write one and make my workers read it ;-)

Shaun

 

[treebilly]

i know about those seconds that feel like minutes. The only thing you hear is your heart beating out of your chest. I fixed the rope confusion by making all my tag lines three strand. Rigging lines are all braided and my climbing line is no where near resemblance to any of them. As for adding a safety guideline, its just one more thing for someone to read and forget. It won't hurt but getting guys to think about all the fine tuned paperwork after a long day or long week gets hard. I notice that when I'm tired I make a lot more cuts because I don't trust myself or the ropeman near as much. Most guys get careless when fatigued' I just get over cautious.