And leave the loggers out of it. I worked for five years with the last company with zero accidents. And we went hard.
Hope it all works out Sean.
Loggers and logging is a different world. I respect the work of logging and the people who do that.
Sounds like you were working with pro's. I've done small scale logging. It's a moonscape after, mostly, right?
Seems harder to get them to work around tons of plantings, irrigation, cedar fences that can't be scratched.
Does this difference between bush logging and manicured, waterfront yards seem like it needs different skill sets?
I do a LOT of tree care in lots of tight, manicured yards. If I just killed trees all day, I'd bet a logger would fit much better. As it is, we fell sometimes zero trees a day or week.
Mick, don't act like a 6 year old, and I won't treat you like a 6 year old. Be a man, get treated like a man. Be a woman, be treated like a woman. Be a dumbshit, go down the road.
Do half the work of someone twice your age, and you will get told to work smarter and get more done, or don't and go down the road. McDonald's doesn't let people cook food willy-nilly, I'm sure.
Seems like many successful businesses with lots of short directions/ exchanges-of-information use Call and Respond, Starbucks, McDonald's, lots of restaurants, and evidently it's used in the tree industry (not just my tree show) and statistically reduces accidents.
The more someone learns their job, the less it's necessary. The more a person can independently work, the less this is necessary. I wish I could leave people with less supervision, and they would do as instructed.
I can get 10 guys a day to show up with a job ad that reads, "excellent pay for non-listeners who break stuff". DO NOT WANT.
I demonstrate this stuff all day. I don't sit in the truck and watch. Once in a while, I f*&k off talking to the customer, or doing nothing important. Generally, I'm making sure the job is done well and safely, plus that all my gear is making it back where it belongs, as it should. The truck is organized every day, basically. If not, we organized it in the morning, as appropriate. I have this crazy idea, Start Organized, Stay Organized. AKA don't lose or break my expensive stuff that we need on this job and all future jobs, going around like a monkey without a plan.
When my guy had got stung really hard the other day, I had an ice pack on him, and elevated in 20 seconds, withbenedryl cream, ace/ elastic bandage, benedryl pills coming right after. His hand still swelled a good bit, but not too bad. I knew where all my first aid supplies were (in the unlocked tool box). If I let people just put stuff in the truck, rather than paying them to start organized and stay organized (believe it or not, a lot of tree service groundies are not that successful in life or organized) I'd have a broken, shit show.
Lots of the stuff I tell them goes against how they've been whipped to work FASTER FASTER FASTER, regardless of safety. They always seem to like hearing that them not getting hurt is way more important that a chainsaw the gets throw away from them if they are going to fall on it, and that there is time to clear the ground for safer footing, etc, etc.
If I had lot of tolerance for low-quality work and damages, paid them dirt wages and cheated them out of overtime, endangered them and let them endanger me, and could make the trees a LOT smaller, it would be way easier. If I could get customers who didn't want work done well, as specified, who still wanted to pay full price, I'd be in like Flynn.
Somehow, the new guy like Plan the Work, Work the plan and can do Call and Respond, stating that it makes them feel a LOT safer than at previous jobs, likes that he and the crew know what is going on, and what to expect. Seems like everyone says that they like not being endangered at work all the time by near-misses. So many guys have told me that they considered not applying to any tree jobs because of the danger they expected.
Somehow not screaming at them, "Get the friggin' thing, not the other friggin' thing, no the other friggin' thing" seems better, too. I guess they like, "Please get the ms461, the white rigging rope, and the pale blue rigging rope" and that it is where I tell them it will be in the truck, or its in the one staging area for the jobsite. Go figure.
My work at other tree services, and around them has been very limited. Lot of danger, lot of yelling, lot of bs. Lot of hungover dumb guys. I quit my first job because it was so dangerous, barely missing the rollover accident in the owner's driveway, resulting in facial paralysis of one guy. I didn't want to get pushed into the BC1000 when three guys were charging in with a top expecting I'd be done chipping and out of the way in time. Ya, the felon-foreman got his brother a job, who was hungover AF the first day, so they were going to make up for it with Git-er-dun regardless of safety. That boss almost fell to his death or disability at the Tree Climbing competition where I was the in-tree-tech. I watched him start to fall away from me at 60', but he caught the rope in his hands. He was able to lanyard in at my perch, and actually set up his new shiny-gizmos properly.
When I worked for him for 2 months, 12 years ago, I was almost hit by falling branches at least once.
Well, now I'm going to talk to someone like a 6 year old, my 6 year old who just woke up, and who I plan to come home to intact, tonight.
Just writing stuff out is somewhat of a relieve. I have to try my best to be polite at work. I never get to say "quit being a dum-shit, you dum-shit! I could get that kind of help out of my 6 year old."
I was waiting for that....
