Don't try this at home

[MikeD74T]

Treemonkey, Since your familiar with sawmill work you might like this.
A few years ago the 18 year old son of a fellow bricklayer got a job in a sawmill right out of highschool. This is a smart rugged ambitious kid who had much construction work experience; working on scaffolds, roofs, pouring concrete, etc; behind him. Was assigned as a helper to a 70 year old forklift operator/yard man. Third day on the job while sorting a load of just unloaded logs he managed to roll one off the pile onto his leg which of course broke. Fork lift man came back to his rescue, removed the log, went to call an ambulance, then came back to sit with the kid. During the wait he related this advice: "There's two kinds of people that work in sawmills, those that never get hurt & those that eventually get killed. You should probably find another line of work!" -which he did.
You're absolutely right - if you're not constantly thinking about how you can get hurt, you will. MikeD74T

 

[Cami]

Hey guys, what role did fatigue play in your respective incidents? Every serious safety issue I've had came after the 14th hour of the shift or following a sleepless night.

In the face of fatigue, it's sometimes hard to stop when there's work to be done. What's funny about this thought is that I was going cross-eyed this morning and came home to have a little nap....after quickly checking my email and one or two favourite web sites.

Treemonkey, you mentioned feeling the vibrations and thinking no harm was being done. I did something like that with the power tailgate on an old truck, only I was being stupid. I was riding it up and at the top I simultaneously felt a pressure on my foot and heard the hydraulic pump labouring. About a full second went by before I thought to turn it off and look down. My foot was fine but the boot needed a little banging to get steel toe back into place; a funny thing was that the toe cap polished up quite nicely after work.

@Miked74T: There's a bit of truth to what the yard man said, but breaking a leg might have brought about an epiphany of sorts for the boy.

 

[Danno1]

Shoe Goo (sp?) will fix that boot..........

Aquaseal works good too.

.

 

[Mousefield]

Just got back from being out in the back forty with the tractor. It was getting windy and most of my property is treed. Last year I had a fairly large branch, from a dead tree, land on my head and pretty much knocked me out, had a concussion. I was probably 30 feet from the nearest tree but branches will sail a bit with some wind. Some of the trees on our property are about 125-150 feet tall. Last year (2009) I had to have a faller come in and take down several Douglas firs that had died. Largest was about 150 feet tall and 3 1/2 diameter at the butt. We walk our goats there sometimes so sure didn't want the trees or huge branches coming down on us or the goats.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Hey guys, what role did fatigue play in your respective incidents? Every serious safety issue I've had came after the 14th hour of the shift or following a sleepless night.

In the face of fatigue, it's sometimes hard to stop when there's work to be done. What's funny about this thought is that I was going cross-eyed this morning and came home to have a little nap....after quickly checking my email and one or two favourite web sites.

Treemonkey, you mentioned feeling the vibrations and thinking no harm was being done. I did something like that with the power tailgate on an old truck, only I was being stupid. I was riding it up and at the top I simultaneously felt a pressure on my foot and heard the hydraulic pump labouring. About a full second went by before I thought to turn it off and look down. My foot was fine but the boot needed a little banging to get steel toe back into place; a funny thing was that the toe cap polished up quite nicely after work.

@Miked74T: There's a bit of truth to what the yard man said, but breaking a leg might have brought about an epiphany of sorts for the boy.

Funny you should mention fatigue. This was the 4th tree that I had climbed that day. I wasn't really tired but I was dealing with safety glasses that were fogged up. Normally I don't use this pair of Safety glasses. I have an amber pair that don't fog up. Also the fact that it was rainy and nasty out. So you are right to be aware of that scenario. I have posted in the past to be cautious of being tired and reflexes slowing down. Using the right sized saw or tool will help working a little safer. As with tractors or any sort of tool trying to keep in mind the dangers associated with them. Even if you have done this job 1000 times don't let your guard down.