STAYING ALIVE

RopeArmour

TreeHouser
Joined
Dec 15, 2010
Messages
1,119
Location
Cambridge, Ontario Canada
Self-Talk? Anyone do this?

What all do you do to avoid accidents?
Like a said once before peformance-fatique-distractions lead to accidents.

Got any special tricks to help you thru the tricky bits?:)
 
I'll rarely tackle difficult tasks late in the day. I prefer high difficulty to occur in the morning. Get the hard stuff out of the way (without pressure darkness/quitting time looming and fatigue setting in) and cruise through the rest of the day.

I find first thing in the morning the best time to go over the plan for a difficult job. Makes for a good safety meeting...
 
Get enough sleep. I have read studies that find being awake for twenty four hours impairs the body and mind like a .1 blood alcohol content. Along with a morning safety briefing and review of the action plan, an after action review helps tie together the events of the day, what went wrong, right , and what needs to be worked on.
 
I'll rarely tackle difficult tasks late in the day. I prefer high difficulty to occur in the morning. Get the hard stuff out of the way (without pressure darkness/quitting time looming and fatigue setting in) and cruise through the rest of the day.

I find first thing in the morning the best time to go over the plan for a difficult job. Makes for a good safety meeting...

Ditto....
 
Self-Talk? Anyone do this?
Yep
What all do you do to avoid accidents?
Over analyze the situation and don't get backed into a corner.

Like a said once before peformance-fatique-distractions lead to accidents.

Got any special tricks to help you thru the tricky bits?:)
Don't get into tricky bits.
 
IME it's not the big scary stuff, you're usually fully focused for that, it's the little things that bite you.
I agree though, do it in the morning, I won't climb after 3ish unless it's absolutely necessasary.
Mental and physical fatigue causes not only personal injury but broken tiles, fence panels, telephone lines.
 
...situations where you simply have to pull it up an do it...think first ...avoid damage to wires, buildings,and self ...especially electrocution...go home safe...time of day does not rule out thinking first
 
Tree people seem to be a very safety conscious group as a whole. Still, we kill an awful lot of people with trees in the wild land world. They make us re-certify every two years but it is hard to get enough trigger time to stay proficient. I think for me it comes down to knowing my limitations and being able to say i dont have the experience to do a particular job.
 
Tree people seem to be a very safety conscious group as a whole. Still, we kill an awful lot of people with trees in the wild land world. They make us re-certify every two years but it is hard to get enough trigger time to stay proficient. I think for me it comes down to knowing my limitations and being able to say i dont have the experience to do a particular job.
Can I ask you to explain that please? What is wild land world?
 
Sorry about that! I should have said wild land firefighting. Bush fire, brush fire or forest fire as some call it. We do a lot of saw work in fire line construction, cutting down trees, clearing brush, bucking logs and such.
Sometimes we will either flag an area with a snag or a widow maker that is too dangerous to fall or a contract faller will be offered the job. If the contractor declines, the area will be off limits. I realize that is not an option for you guys, to just leave the tree I mean.
 
Sorry about that! I should have said wild land firefighting. Bush fire, brush fire or forest fire as some call it. We do a lot of saw work in fire line construction, cutting down trees, clearing brush, bucking logs and such.
Sometimes we will either flag an area with a snag or a widow maker that is too dangerous to fall or a contract faller will be offered the job. I the contractor declines, the area will be off limits. I realize that is not an option for you guys, to just leave the tree I mean.
Thank you, all becomes clear.
 
Self-Talk? Anyone do this?

What all do you do to avoid accidents?
Like a said once before peformance-fatique-distractions lead to accidents.

Got any special tricks to help you thru the tricky bits?:)

This is a great question and a great thread Thomas.

I focus on the result I want and what it will take to get that result. I have read and heard that an inordinate number of ‘high wire acts’ and other cutting edge ‘performers’ that have died have first started to ‘flirt with’ or imagine their own demise (Mind drifting to a terminal result.) I have, partly for this reason, chosen not to spend much time watching titillating videos or reading detailed accounts of how to screw up a tree job and ones self. I picture and focus on the result I want. When my mind strays from that, I bring it back.

I purposely limit distractions that could lead me to miss something. And I have it be ok to just “bag it” on any given day when I feel I am about to go over my limit of distractions to “juggle” and still keep my focus. Interestingly, though I am willing to quit on any given work day and it is ok for me to do so, I can’t think of any times I have chosen to after going through my checklist of options. (I have told people if they wanted me to get the tree done they needed to stop laughing and talking so loudly etc..) Being sick with the flu or some such always equals no work for this reason for me.

I have done quit a few Tony Robbins programs where we prepped for and walked on fire as a metaphor for being able to do a thing you want to do in life. I like how he expressed one thing. After about an hour or hour and a half of detailed and elaborate explanations of the different theories that allow for a human being to walk on burning hot coals without having their feet melt he finally says, “I don’t care which theory you believe as long as you believe one of them.” I used to feel ‘‘indestructible” and have jumped from one tree to another untethered on a couple of adrenaline/testosterone induced occasions. I used to feel I could rip a tree apart with my bare hands. I used to equate myself to a machine in this way or that and I often used to think that I had conversations with death and that day at least, death blinked. Today I think more of “style and grace” that I bring to bear to get my result.

On some occasions when I think it’s really close or dicey I stop, I consider backing out, I think of alternate approaches or other possibilities, if I am committed to going forward I talk to God. I thank him for the life I have gotten to live, I sincerely tell him I appreciate it and wouldn’t want it any other way. Then I acknowledge - yes, that is a form of me begging for my life.... I start up the saw and let her rip with all of my senses functioning at their peak.

One of the biggest things I do to avoid accidents is I believe I CAN avoid accidents - and further, it is MY responsibility to do so. I have been surprised to come across thoughts expressed on the forums that provided for the idea that we will get hurt in our tree careers. Or that our bodies will break down. I flat out reject this line of thinking for myself. Instead I look for examples of safely working through a life career and having ones body function well till the day of ones death.
 
Sorry about that! I should have said wild land firefighting. Bush fire, brush fire or forest fire as some call it. We do a lot of saw work in fire line construction, cutting down trees, clearing brush, bucking logs and such.
Sometimes we will either flag an area with a snag or a widow maker that is too dangerous to fall or a contract faller will be offered the job. If the contractor declines, the area will be off limits. I realize that is not an option for you guys, to just leave the tree I mean.

Or they would turn it over to me, should said contractor turn it down...old history :).

As to the original post's question, I'd echo what several have said...avoid the nasties when fatigued, get that stuff out of the way early. Paying attention to the small things is vital.
 
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