Earth and Space News: Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances

Summary: Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company discusses community and tree safety awareness during line- and road-clearances.

Recordkeeping, which documents response activities and equipment, can clarify complexities and seeming chaos of storm response efforts; after-storm cleanup in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota: Joseph O'Brien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Storm Response, Part 4: Unique Aspects: Keeping Employees Safe, Talking to the Media, Saving Damaged Trees, Winding Down, and Lessons Learned accentuates tree safety awareness in the Arborist News December 2013 issue.

Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company builds timely, vigilant pruning, publicity, recordkeeping, safety and stand-downs into the response and the restoration stages of storm responses. Safety in storm response and restoration concerns people and their equipment, infrastructure such as buildings and pavement and vehicles as well as sites and their trees. Emergency declarations by governments and by utilities derive from "extraordinary conditions" that "disrupt normal activities and cause damage to infrastructure," especially to communication and transportation networks.

With or without emergency declarations, response and restoration expand electrical hazards, tree failures and wildlife displacements and extend drive-times and workloads in "difficult or unusual environments."

Line- and road-clearances function as top priorities in storm response and restoration since communication and transportation networks and power grids facilitate returns to normal operating procedures.

Tree safety awareness sometimes gets underestimated since "Fallen trees and branches may be entangled, and partially fallen or leaning trees or hanging branches may be common." Storm-loaded wood under tension has the "possibility of unexpected movement when loads are released by cuts" from risk assessment arborists headed into removal or restoration pruning. Cuts "to allow access and restore critical services" indicate pruning procedures since "Many trees sustain severe damage but remain standing" and respond quickly to restoration schedules.

"[B]ack feed" from "improperly connected home generators" jeopardizes line- and road-clearance arborists whose metal pruners join wet wood near lines that must be treated as energized.

Line- and road-clearances always kindle learning and teaching moments for "lessons learned" and tree safety awareness stand-downs about accidents, "costly" mistakes, "near" misses and "[u]nexpected events."

Analyses of failures and successes lend themselves well to on-site stand-downs "to prevent further incidents" and post-response talks to incorporate lesson-learning into preparations for subsequent responses. They may mention publicity since line- and road-clearances, response and restoration, "attract intense public and media scrutiny, especially after large storms and during lengthy power outages." Management needs to name authorized issuers of descriptions, photographs and statements to bloggers and reporters, "homeowners and neighbors" and media outlets, social media and the public.

Pre-approved "I don't know" and "We are all working hard to get things back to normal" statements for field personnel offer nothing for misrepresentation or misunderstanding.

Recordkeeping puts in response and restoration appearances since accurately accounting "hours worked, miles traveled, and costs for food, fuel, lodging, and other expenses can be daunting."

"[P]re-negotiation of terms, including agreements on what expenses are reimbursable" and vigilant documentation from the start, with information shared between parties" quell chaos and quicken reimbursements. Pre-negotiation of "turnkey contracts with suppliers of services and materials" and "use of dedicated corporate credit cards" result in streamlined "expenses documentation and accounting" for reimbursement. Accurate, prompt accounting of legitimate expenses serves to thank those who sign checks for writing checks while correct, timely reimbursements show that people and trees matter.

Community and tree safety awareness takes many forms whose common denominator is line- and road-clearances during storms as "unruly reminders of our vulnerability to natural phenomena."

Community awareness and tree safety awareness are important components of storm response and restoration; utility pole dangerously leaning over Main Line of Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) after battering by overnight cold front's high winds, Hicksville, Long Island, New York; Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, 12:49:48: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York (MTAPhotos), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Kempter, Geoff. December 2013. "Storm Response, Part 4: Unique Aspects: Keeping Employees Safe, Talking to the Media, Saving Damaged Trees, Winding Down, and Lessons Learned." Arborist News 22(6): 12-18.
Available @ http://viewer.epaperflip.com/Viewer.aspx?docid=0d7dd641-d347-417c-b9c7-a28300c6d215#?page=12

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2013. “Chain-Saw Gear and Tree Work Related Personal Protective Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/chain-saw-gear-and-tree-work-related.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2013. “Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/storm-damaged-tree-clearances-matched.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/storm-induced-tree-damage-assessments.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2012. “Three Tree Risk Assessment Levels: Limited Visual, Basic and Advanced.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Earth and Space News

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances

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