Felling Risk Assessment

Burnham

Burnham

Woods walker
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
23,013
Location
Western Oregon
This recently came across my desk...a numeric system to evaluate level of risk, especially allowing for the analysis of the risk that accrues when multiple risk factors are present in a tree.

It bears the logo of Western Forest Products, a big timber and lumber producer located in coastal BC, Canada, if my sources are correct.

It's being passed around to FS C fallers here on my Forest, with requests for feedback.

The areas in red indicate a risk factor that has been shown to have been directly responsible for a fatality.

Thought some of y'all might be interested. If you have observations you'd be willing to share, I'd like to use them to help inform my response.
 

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  • Dangerous Tree Risk assessment Guide- Fallling Supervisor.pdf
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I'm guessing this would eventually be distributed to the "A" fallers as a handy quick reference guide. I'd like to see something like that for urban foresters addressing those particular hazards that are present in a residential setting.
 
Interesting, but very subjective. What one faller may determine as "adequate opening present" for falling another may see "adequate opening must be made" or "marginal opening".

In short there is no modifying factor with relation to experience/skill of the faller, which we know is a critical when dealing with any hazard tree removal scenario
 
It is a nice thought but experienced fallers go through that checklist without even thinking until one of the hazards shows. C level faller will do this with experience. A lesser faller may not read the tree right with or with out the list. I think it is more a tool that may be used for fallers to describe to desk jockeys how hazadous a tree is.

Mr. Sir, there is a system like that but you have to come the the PNW chapter to do it
http://pnwisa.org/calendar/tree-risk-assessor-certification.html
 
I don't quite understand the big jump in numbers, it seems like it could be greater simplified. What is the point of rating a marginal opening (notch) for example, if it is going to be corrected before the tree is cut enough to fall? I can appreciate a quick evaluating system, but that one seems confusing, or maybe burdensome is the word.
 
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  • #7
All valid points. For myself, I'm less than convinced of it's utility, mainly for the reasons Pete and Willie mention.

One useful purpose may just be the emphasis it places on cumulative risk from several different factors, as a way to demonstrate that to sawyers not yet at the journeyman level.

Jay, the big jump in numbers for the factors in red is to make clear that failure to mitigate for that risk has a fatality history associated with it alone. As for the marginal opening question you pose...anytime you have to be in the vacinity of a tree that could be considered unstable or otherwise hazardous, felling other trees to create an opening to fell the hazard tree into, you are operating at an elevated risk due to the possibility of causing the target tree to fail unexpectedly.
 
hmmm. beware the the Risk Assesment schedule, beloved of of all desk jockeys and beaurocrats everywhere. its starts as a good idea, and before long it is taken as gospel and law, and the word / opinion of the experienced man becomes second place to the risk assesment. trust me on this, as Pete will attest, we have years of experience of these in the UK.
What would you prefer - a rookie who does a correct RA, or the opinion of an experienced journeyman? because eventually, it will only be the former that counts.
 
Interesting, very valid points have been made already. I would find a system like that cumbersome and frusturating in the real world I think.

You are correct B on the location of WFP.
 
Guides like these are usually more of a teaching or reprimanding tool than one for a guy to use on every tree he cuts. Everything they've got there makes sense to me, but of course no one's going to be adding 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, etc at every tree they come to. But if a supervisor sees a faller do something boneheaded, they can go through the list and it's a way to make sure everything it covered so the risks are understood. It's also a good tool for a faller to say, "hey I can't fall this, bring a blaster in, there's clearly no safe way to open this up to fall this snag above my setting."
 
It highlights the more important safety issues related to the subject at hand. Which is good. How it is interpreted in the field from different points of view is the clincher. Overall the point is good though.
 
It is good to know, but, as a CA,, it seem's like overkill and more money to get a special cert. that most CA's already know. Maybe an 'Ego-Boost'.
 
I don't really agree with the numbers applied to each risk factor.
Maybe because it is made primarily for softwoods?

I would rate " tied limbs" way higher on hardwoods, because they will either cause the tree to veer off to one side on, worse, not to fall at all.

That is when the rookie faller comes up with some "smart" way of overcoming the problem of a cut, but still standing hazard tree and get's himself killed.

I pretty much agree with Willie, it is simply a list that any experienced faller carries in his/her head and automatically goes through when facing a tree.
 
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  • #17
Thank's, guys. Y'all are all hitting the points I found running through my head as I looked it over.

Stig, I'm sure you are right, this is generated from a PNW conifer faller's view of the world.
 
jefflovstrom@sb said:
It is good to know, but, as a CA,, it seem's like overkill and more money to get a special cert. that most CA's already know. Maybe an 'Ego-Boost'.
Click to expand...

as far as I know the ISA CA cert has nothing to do with production felling, nor should it.
 
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