Sad sad sad
Scrolling through my phone feed today, I uncovered a sad story from New Zealand, where an experienced arborist got killed by a stump grinder. That’s horrific, and it show how quickly things can go bad. Dying on the job is not a good way to go.
Most people reading this blog will know what a stump grinder is. The name helps. It’s a big beast. In this story it was a larger machine operated by remote control, something like in the picture below. Basically, you turn it on, you position the grinder wheel over your tree stump, and then you lower it. As the machine moves side to side, it shreds the stump wood until it’s gone. All you have left is a hole and a pile of wood chips.
Remote controlled beast
The size of the machine matters in this story. Small, hand operated rental models can’t really kill you. They can injure you, but still, they’re much smaller and therefore, less powerful. Because they’re small, you can see what’s happening in front you.
Remote controlled machines are beefier, and used on bigger stumps. You need remore controls because you literally can’t see ahead of you. It’s hard to see what’s happening with the stump. Thus the remote control. You can read my stump grinder blog post here.
The accident
Now, from what the report says, the experienced arborist, 69-years-old, had the grinder wheel up but still engaged. As he moved the machine, he for some reason got too close to the wheel. I think the buffer zone is 3 meters; you shouldn’t be inside the 3 meters.
The man was working alone, so people supsect that his long sleeved shirt got caught on the grinder wheel, and it grabbed him violently. There was no time to press any safety buttons.
A passerby found the man on the ground, called for help, and shut down the grinder. Sadly, the arborist’s head injuries were not survivable. He later died in hospital. Just like that. Accidents can happen very quickly.
Safety
Safety is not a hot topic. If most of my blog posts were about workplace safety, my readership would drop off. But having worked in the field for twenty-six seasons, I know that accidents can happen. You have to constantly assess and stay sharp.
Allow me to share one example. Years ago, we were weeding and one young girl on our team bend down to pull weeds from a tree well. As she bent down, she completely missed a short, dead branch higher up on the tree, and she poked herself. She was literally milimeters away from losing her eye. That’s how close it can get. Stay safe, wherever you work.
