Chainsaw accident

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That's a very tragic event. I can't even begin to empathize with the man.
 
That really is sad. I read the article and many of the responses. One was from a forestry professional. He asked how many wear various PPE, including a helmet. I wear ear and eye protection, along with boots, gloves and chaps, however, I don't wear a helmet. Since I'm cutting logs that are already down and laying on my driveway or sawbuck, how necessary is a helmet? I'm thinking that's for folks who are out in the woods cutting down trees, branches, etc. As I stated above, I'm ONLY cutting up logs that have been loaded off of my trailer or truck. Am I missing something?
 
I don't know about you guys but I make sure my wife isn't anywhere near where I'm cutting. There is no reason for her to be that close where she, or I could slip or fall, etc. I don't want to concentrate on her. I want to watch the saw and where my body is.

Matt
 
Due to a lack of a better place, I do some cutting (a few tanks a year) in my short suburban driveway. I try to make sure I know where the family and neighborhood kids and others are, but mostly I rely on what seems like the common-sense notion that you don't walk up behind someone running a chainsaw. Unfortunately, this article is a reminder that that isn't always sufficient.
 
Definitely a tragic accident, terrible that it happened. I have great sympathy for the family and what they must be going through....

That said, I figure it is worth looking at it to see what can be learned. Judging from the article, I would tend to say that there are two key facts we can gather...

1. Protective gear probably would NOT have helped... Much as it is an excellent idea to wear it, in this case it probably wouldn't have helped much - per the article he hit her in the neck with the saw, an area that gear doesn't cover. This isn't to rank on the gear, but what the forestry pro in the comments was saying about it really doesn't work... Training MIGHT have helped - as has been pointed out many times, the most important gear is in between your ears, but you have to use it!

2. Leads me to the second conclusion, that this was a case of serious stupidity on BOTH persons part, though I would tend to put more blame on the wife.... HE should have been more aware of what was around him, and especially should have LOOKED to see where he was putting the bar of his saw... However I would say the wife is more at fault for coming within range of someone using a saw without making SURE he KNEW that she was there...

I seldom cut with others around (if anything I err in the opposite direction, as cutting by oneself has it's own set of risks) but when I do, I make sure that I tell them NOT to come near me, except from the front, and then stop several feet away and wave or otherwise attract my attention until I've shut the saw down to at least an idle and acknowledged their presence... If working as part of a team, I won't start the saw until we've discussed what the plan is, and where people will be.

By not only coming up behind him, but getting into the operating area of the saw, she was putting herself at great risk. If it had been me, and I'd caught her doing a stunt like that, the neighbors would probably have been glad when I stopped yelling at her and fired up the saw so they could get some QUIET.... :mad: Unfortunately though, she got caught the hard way, with tragic results...

-------------------

On a different subject that was raised..
jdinspector
That really is sad. I read the article and many of the responses. One was from a forestry professional. He asked how many wear various PPE, including a helmet. I wear ear and eye protection, along with boots, gloves and chaps, however, I don’t wear a helmet. Since I’m cutting logs that are already down and laying on my driveway or sawbuck, how necessary is a helmet? I’m thinking that’s for folks who are out in the woods cutting down trees, branches, etc. As I stated above, I’m ONLY cutting up logs that have been loaded off of my trailer or truck. Am I missing something?

If you are cutting on the ground, the helmet is more or less optional, but it is still STRONGLY reccomended that you have BOTH eye and face protection - as in safety glasses and a mesh or plastic screen that covers your face. In theory, if you should get a kickback, a helmet might offer some protection, but IMHO that is a fairly remote risk and protection. However I've found the face shield is really helpful - even with a beard, flying chips hurt...

I have tried having a discrete screen and muffs, and found that it was a real challenge trying to keep all the parts in place.

I then went to a combo unit of a screen attached to a pair of muffs, which was better, but still problematic in that the weight of the screen would tend to drag the muffs out of place, or that flipping the screen up and down would knock the muffs off, etc, especially when trying to hold the saw with one hand and adjust the protection with the other...

I now have a helmet / muff / screen combo, and find that works much better - the suspension of the helmet works to keep everything in place. In retrospect, the only thing I would have done differently, and that I will look for in my next helmet is a "ratchet knob" size adjustment rather than the loop and pin strap setup. It makes it easier to deal with changes in what I'm wearing under the helmet - i.e. a hat in cold weather, a sweat band in the hot weather, or nothing in the shoulder season... I find the helmet works so much better than the other options, I will sometimes wear it when using my table saw or other power tools of that sort - sure it looks goofy, but it works....

Gooserider
 
Lanning said:
The helmet,face, and ear muff combo has advantages. You dont have to wear glasses that fog up and you cannot see.....

You don't "HAVE" to, but you should... I've found the screen doesn't stop everything, just the big stuff. I know my glasses stop a lot of smaller dust because I have to periodically clean them off :coolhmm: ... It is worth noting that OSHA requires both the screen and glasses.

However I will admit that I don't wear the full OSHA grade safetyglasses with side shields, etc. Instead I compromise by wearing my normal eyeglasses - which I did pick with safety in mind, namely polycarbonate lenses (instead of standard plastic) and large size "aviator" frames in order to maximize my coverage.... I will sometimes get sweat dripping on my glasses, which is a definite pain, but the only time I really have a fogging problem is with temperature changes - coming inside in the winter, or going outside from an airconditioned space in the summer...

Gooserider
 
Ironic that you seem to be having a rash of such problems all covered by "WOOD" TV... Again a tragic accident, largely caused by not using good procedures - although I would say that it is less the kid's fault as one doesn't expect the same level of behaviour from a youngster as one does from an adult. Even if the kid had been told how to approach, it's understandable that he might forget under the stress of the percieved "emergency" of the brush fire spreading...

The father appears to have been at least trying to keep the kid safe by leaving him in the truck (I assume parked in a safe location). Of course one certainly could argue that a little kid shouldn't have been anywhere near the area, but that is somewhat pushing it - aren't we also told to encourage parent-child bonding, and I could see the kid wanting to come along so he could "help" his dad. It may also have been the only child care option at the time - the article didn't say.

More of a problem perhaps is that the father shouldn't have started a fire and then gone off to cut down more trees without having someone adult watching the fire, but again it's the sort of thing that one could see in order to get the work done, and probably most times there wouldn't have been a problem.

So this one I would have said was due to a series of small things that cascaded into a tragic result, but that it mostly was a case of horribly bad "chit happens" events - if the timing had been a just a tiny bit different, there would have been no tragedy... There didn't seem to be the level of "severe stupid" that was present in the case of the first post - I feel far more sympathetic towards all involved in this case.

Gooserider
 
Lanning said:
Face protection with helmet and shield
x2 - I really like mine

When I was a teenager, I was cutting down trees for a contractor and didn't know about dead limbs. Fortunately the contractor made me wear a hard hat. As I was cutting the tree, the dead limb fell, hitting me in the head. Even with the hard hat, I was knocked out.
 
Gooserider said:
The father appears to have been at least trying to keep the kid safe by leaving him in the truck (I assume parked in a safe location). Of course one certainly could argue that a little kid shouldn't have been anywhere near the area, but that is somewhat pushing it - aren't we also told to encourage parent-child bonding, and I could see the kid wanting to come along so he could "help" his dad. It may also have been the only child care option at the time - the article didn't say.

Unsupervised six-year old child, left in a vehicle adjacent to a hazardous work area. Even without the fire as added hazard, I would classify that as negilgent, if not criminally negligent. I feel sorry for the parents, but it was not safe or acceptable practice.

Peace,
- Sequoia
 
TreePapa said:
Gooserider said:
The father appears to have been at least trying to keep the kid safe by leaving him in the truck (I assume parked in a safe location). Of course one certainly could argue that a little kid shouldn't have been anywhere near the area, but that is somewhat pushing it - aren't we also told to encourage parent-child bonding, and I could see the kid wanting to come along so he could "help" his dad. It may also have been the only child care option at the time - the article didn't say.

Unsupervised six-year old child, left in a vehicle adjacent to a hazardous work area. Even without the fire as added hazard, I would classify that as negilgent, if not criminally negligent. I feel sorry for the parents, but it was not safe or acceptable practice.

Peace,
- Sequoia
In 20/20 hindsight you are right - but if there had been no accident, I wouldn't have been at all surprised to see a post HERE (complete w/ cute pictures) about how Dad went out cutting, and Jr. came along to "help" - and I doubt that you or anyone else would have accused Dad of negligence... I've seen plenty of posts that are fairly close.

Kids at that age are anxious to help do stuff in the "grownup" world, and letting them do so is supposed to be "good for their psyches" and help them develop independence and so forth - and parents are very much inclined to let the kid "help" even when (as it often does) it actually means that the parent has to work harder - and then go home and tell mom what a big "help" Jr. was...

Was this a great solution, no, but I could easily see the scenario - "Jr. I can't work the saw and keep an eye on you at the same time, so you watch me from the truck, and as soon as I've finished cutting down this tree you can help me move the brush and load the good wood into the truck..." - if everything had gone well, it would have been a big positive for everyone.... And if the timing had been just a few seconds different, it STILL would have worked out well - either the kid would have been out of the way, (or Dad could have stopped cutting) or the tree would have been on the ground before he got to it...

So, no, tragic as it was, I don't quite buy "negligence" - more like somewhat risky behaviour, in anticipation of a pleasant benefit, that through bad luck turned out horribly wrong...

Gooserider
 
I watched the news clip, tragic accident.
The news clip states that there were 2 kids in the truck when the accident happened, not sure of the age of the other child.
I might be paranoid, but when I am working with power tools in the backyard..i.e. skilsaw, drill, etc...and when I am done with it even for 2 minutes, I unplug the power cord if I know any one of my kids are in the backyard....6 year, 4 year and 2 can be very curious....when they are teenagers I wont take this approach as they should know better...maybe will even help me build stuff....but an unsupervised 6 year old in a car with a brush burn going on? Maybe the dad had no other choice to take the kids...just real real sad....can't imagine how the dad is doing...brings tears to my eyes.
 
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