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MIOSHA's Tree Trimming and
Removal Hazards Initiative
Employers in the tree trimming
and removal industry are encouraged to step-up efforts to protect
workers on the job.
As of August 31, 2006, 4
of 19 MIOSHA General Industry program-related workplace fatalities
for 2006 involved workers in the tree trimming and removal industry.
MIOSHA is proactively providing information and increasing enforcement
resources in this industry because of the number of workplace
fatalities related to tree trimming and removal.
The MIOSHA General Industry
Safety Standard Part 53, Tree Trimming and Removal, addresses
minimum safety expectations for the industry including requirements
to:
+ Train employees on the
requirements of the standard, the job hazards and safeguards
before starting an assigned job. A job briefing must be conducted
before starting a job with unusual hazards.
+ Provide and ensure employees use eye and head protection, a
safety belt, and a safety strap as required by MIOSHA General
Industry Safety Standard Part 33, Personal Protective Equipment
+ Ensure that employees wear and attach a safety strap when aloft
in the bucket of an aerial device.
+ Maintain minimum safe working distances from energized lines,
as provided in the standard, for both the tree worker and qualified
line clearance tree trimmers.
+ Use proper undercut and back cut techniques to ensure there
is sufficient hinge wood to guide the tree in the desired direction
and to hold the tree to the stump during most of the fall.
+ Use and maintain an aerial lift following MIOSHA General Industry
Safety Standard, Part 58, Vehicle Mounted and Rotating Work Platforms.
+ Inspect ropes before each daily use.
+ Prohibit employees on the ground from standing or working directly
under the work area.
The hazards cited by MIOSHA
most frequently in this industry during the past five years are:
+ Not enforcing the use of face, eye, and head protection.
+ Not conducting a personal protective equipment assessment.
+ Not enforcing the use of a safety belt or strap while working
aloft.
+ Not providing employee training.
+ Not following the minimum safe working distances from energized
lines.
+ Inadequate traffic control.
In addition to the safety
concerns discussed above, noise exposure is a health concern
in the tree trimming and removal industry. MIOSHA Occupational
Health Standard Part 380, Occupational Noise Exposure for General
Industry requires that engineering and administrative controls
be used to the extent feasible to reduce exposures below the
permissible exposure limit (PEL) for noise (i.e., 90 dBA as averaged
over an 8-hour work shift). Where such controls are not feasible
or sufficient to reduce employee exposures below the PEL, a selection
of hearing protection must be provided and required for employee
use.
Part 380 also requires employers
to institute a hearing conservation program when employees are
exposed to high levels of noise on the job. A hearing conservation
program consists of noise monitoring, baseline and annual hearing
tests, annual noise training, provision of a selection of hearing
protection (i.e., at least two different types of devices), posting
a copy of Part 380, and proper maintenance of exposure and hearing
test records. The requirement for the hearing conservation program
applies when employee noise exposures equals or exceeds 85 dBA
as averaged over an 8-hour work shift.
A free PowerPoint presentation,
"Tree
Trimming and Power Lines" is available from MIOSHA.
Acopy of the MIOSHA
General Industry Safety Standards is available from Pathfinder
Associates Inc.
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