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My groundie cut a 14 inch limb while I was still tied in, and I made a rule about it on the spot
Two weeks ago in a backyard in Fairfield I was 40 feet up a Norway maple doing a deadwood prune with my lifeline set on a union near the main crotch. I looked down to grab my handsaw and heard the saw start, and my groundie was already halfway through a 14 inch limb on the side I was tied into. I yelled but by then it was peeling, and when it went it dragged the whole leader down about 3 feet and snapped my flip line tight across my chest hard enough to knock my breath out. I had to hug the trunk and wait for the tree to quit moving before I could even reach my hitch, and my hands were shaking the rest of the climb. Everyone says you can't run a crew with hard rules because guys quit, but I stopped the job right there and from now on nobody touches a saw while a climber has a rope in the tree unless I give a verbal yes and get a verbal back. Slowest two minutes of my life but I have not had a close call since. How do you all handle groundies who think they're helping by staying busy?
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jessica84118d ago
Honestly a verbal yes rule just slows down good groundies who already know the deal.
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