Chainsaw Operators Course Overview
Chainsaws are tools that can accomplish an incredible amount of work when placed in the hands of an experienced and well-trained sawyer. On the other side of the coin, chainsaws can injure, maim, and kill those individuals which lack competent training. This is a fact confirmed when examining workmen’s compensation insurance carriers’ data concerning chainsaw injury and death claims. “On the job training” is not the way to train new or inexperienced sawyers. Employers should be aware their legal liability may be heightened if “due diligence” is ruled lacking when competent training is not provided.
Situations which are particularly dangerous are tornado or hurricane cleanup operations. Uprooted, twisted, broken, leaning trees with unstable debris lodged overhead are recognized as the most dangerous scenarios a sawyer faces. Powerful tension and compression forces exist in this material. Quick movements often occur when stressed timber is cut which can be dangerous for the untrained.
Typically, the first responders called to deal with cleanup after these weather events are utilities, volunteer fire departments, government road or street crews, and National Guard units. Most have limited experience and little or no professional training. This is a recipe for disaster. Statistically, bad things are likely to happen under these conditions.
Dead timber, whether standing or down is also dangerous to cut. Wood fiber immediately begins deteriorating upon dying. This situation becomes progressively worse as time passes. Root systems weaken, limbs shed and tops may break off unexpectedly to name a few problems which create hazardous cutting conditions for all sawyers. To safely work in these situations, competent training to accurately judge the dangers present and how to deal with them effectively should be a requirement.
I work with both conifer and deciduous species, (6”dbh – 30” dbh) on a daily basis and can provide competent, professional training within these parameters. Please take a minute to look over my experience and credentials. I recommend a minimum of 8 hours of classroom instruction with at least 8 hours of field instruction. I guarantee your personnel will be safer, more knowledgeable, productive, and skilled as sawyers after my instruction. The following information describes my basic course content: