need to talk
I am so very sorry, also, for the unfortunate situation. As many have stated, close calls and accidents do happen as part of our profession. Most of us get a 'learning experience' maybe a bump, a cut, or a whopping scar.
But only a few of us are unfortunate enough to have an injury resulting in a fatality on the jobsite. For all of us, you have shared the horror of it and heightened the overall awareness of safety on the jobsite.
A few weeks ago a former apprentice was doing a climb for my firewood guys (I was on vacation). I can't piece the incident together as I have only heard it from the one side, the guy who was struck with the limb and knocked through a wooden fence. I did see the $3,000 medical bill for the MRI, X-Rays and meds, and it was a first-hand recount, but I have yet to hear about it from the climber.
I know it affected the climber deeply, but it was just a close call.
Need to talk, The pain you're experiencing and sharing with us is felt by all. There is no way to go back and change three critical seconds. However, it is beyond common sense that you have to be responsible for your own personal safety. In fact, it is an industry standard and it stated emphatically, page 1 of the 2006 ANSI Z-133.1 standard of Safety Requirements for Arboricultural Operations, and it reads:
1.4 Responsibility of the Employee
Each person (employee or otherwise) shall be responsible for his or her own safety while on the jobsite and shall comply with the appropriate federal or state occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders that are applicable to his or her own actions and conduct.
Yes, you have a responsibility toward your workers, however their safety is their responsibility. As a team, we are all looking out for each other, but ultimately we must each be responsible for our own behaviors and conduct while on the jobsite. YOUR personal safety is not someone else's duty, nor is theirs yours. I risk being overly blunt in the face of this unfortunate tragedy, but I am just relaying the rules written by our industry, for our industry.