It is often a surprise to many customers the sheer amount of equipment used for our tree service. Thankfully, gone are the days when a bloke would turn up in a rusty van with an old chainsaw and a pair of jeans; modern tree surgery has progressed significantly. This article listed some of the essential equipment used to carry out our tree surgeon service safely and effectively for our clients.
Before a single leaf is removed from any tree, a tree surgeon should have the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) in place. Starting from the top, we first have the helmet. This particular piece of PPE has many different purposes and is vital in keeping safe during the course of our tree work. The most common cause of fatality in forestry is falling timber, and the helmet helps to guard against this threat. Limbs and pieces of dead wood are potentially lethal, and a helmet can make a life-saving difference in those types of situations.
The helmet also protects against hearing loss. Using chainsaws and wood chippers for extended periods can have a debilitating effect on the hearing of tree surgeons and groundsmen; the ear defenders incorporated into the helmet prevent such occurrences. The visor on the chainsaw helps protect the eyes from debris that can occasionally fire out from the wood chipper or from wood being processed, making the helmet a multi-functional piece of pipe.
Chainsaw-proof jackets help protect the upper body from potential injury; however, they are considered unnecessary in most cases. The extra heat and restricted movement make them unsuitable for all but novice chainsaw users; you would not expect to see professional tree surgeons using them.
Chainsaw gloves have two primary purposes within the tree surgeon industry. The first is to protect the back of the hand from potential chainsaw kickback, and they also protect against vibration through the chainsaw. Chainsaws have improved dramatically in vibration output over the years, but extra protection against them is always welcome.
Chainsawproof trousers protect tree surgeons from cutting into their legs while operating a chainsaw. They cannot stop the chain from cutting into the material; instead, they are designed with a fibrous material inside them that is carried by the teeth of the blade to the chainsaw sprocket, where it gets stuck. This causes the sprocket and chain to stop spinning, making the chainsaw safe. Once cut, chainsaw trousers need to be discarded and replaced because of the now missing material.
Chainsaw boots are the last item on our list. They provide the standard protection of a safety boot(steel toecap and insole to prevent penetration of the soul of the foot by nails, etc.) and the same fibres to stop the chainsaw from penetrating the foot of the tree surgeon. They are rumoured to be less effective than chainsaw trousers but are vital to any tree surgeon’s safety footwear.
