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Arborists perform physically demanding tasks – everything from lifting logs and dragging brush to running chain saws in trees and leaning out of buckets with hydraulic pruning equipment. Each of these activities requires physical stamina and dexterity. Each can cause back injury if not done properly.

Lifestyle and behavior can certainly impact back injury, too. Being overweight, out of shape or using bad posture can predispose one to back injury.

Back injuries are often painful and slow to heal. The indirect costs of a back injury – the lost time and productivity – are five times as expensive as the

Tree WorkerA MONTHLY RESOURCE FOR TREE CARE PROFESSIONALS k SEPTEMBER 2016 • Number 403

Some Heavy Lifting Regarding Back Injury Prevention

Who Do You Work For?

continued on page 2

continued on page 4

– Tim Walsh, CTSP

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direct cost. In fact, back injury is the leading cause of lost time in the tree care industry.

In order to prevent or reduce the severity of back injuries, the tree care company’s leaders need to recognize the causes and predisposing factors to injury in their company. Just as with prevention of other injuries, back injury prevention starts with on-the-job hazard recognition and avoidance.

Depending on the situation, reducing exposure to back injury means implementing changes in one or more of the following areas: training, task re-design, modification/replacement of tools and equipment, and worker behavior modification.

The topic for this month has been rolling around in my head for quite some time, and I think it is time to let it out. The question, however, isn’t an easy one to answer, or it shouldn’t be in my opinion. As is often the case, there are many levels or aspects of this question so I will address each separately.

The first time I posed this question to a group of arborists a few years ago, only one of them gave the answer I was looking for at first (as a reminder, it doesn’t matter whether you identify yourself as a tree worker, tree trimmer, arborist or some other appropriate term for our profession, I mean “arborist” to be an all-inclusive term).

It was a training for some line clearance companies,

and there were four or five different companies represented in the room. When I asked the ques-tion, most thought I was trying to figure out what company they worked for. It was nice to see that they all had a sense of pride in their respective companies as I walked around the room, pointing at each of them in turn listening to which company employed them. Oddly enough, it was the last per-son in the group that replied differently: They said, “my family.” This was the answer I was looking for of course. I then went back around the room and let everyone say who they were really working for.

I have seen some good safety marketing ideas re-lating to this concept, but I think that it is essential that we all remember the most important thing

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Some Heavy Lifting Regarding Back Injury Prevention continued from page 1

Back support beltsResearch and anecdotal evidence on back belts to reduce back injury have provided conflicting information about their effectiveness.

As an example, one company started a back support belt policy mid-year for employees in depart-ments experiencing high back injury incident rates. Field employees responded enthusiastically to the policy. The company reduced its back injury incident rate by 44 percent and their severity rate by 85 percent over the next six months. They lowered their cost for back injuries for the period of July 1 to December 31 by 89 percent compared to the same period the year before.

It seems that the back belt policy had the unanticipated effect of changing behavior. Employees commented that wearing a support belt was a constant reminder to lift correctly.

Other industries have reported the same phe-nomenon. Unfortunately, unless good behaviors are reinforced over time, employees slip back into bad behaviors. Furthermore, the use of a back belt could instill a false sense of security.

The bottom line seems to be that backs belts by themselves will not prevent injury and in some cases may even predispose the wearer to injury. Their use can only be effective when it is part of a comprehensive back injury reduction program. If they are going to be used, back belts should be professionally (physician/qualified technician) and individually fitted to the employee for best results. The employee may have a pre-existing injury or condition where an improperly fitted (too tight or

Your back has a working load limit and cycles to failure just like your climbing line.

(Except, nobody knows what the limit is!)

loose) back belt may aggravate.

Healthy habits: Back on TrackArborists should maintain health and fitness through good eating and sleeping habits. These good hab-its, coupled with daily exercise, can help keep your employees productive and feeling fit. A company policy cannot mandate that employees eat right and stay fit, but the atmosphere and culture in a company can help to achieve these goals.

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we work for every day – our families at home. I was only able to capture a picture with my phone of the message on the side of a bus in Hong Kong, but I think that it is one of best expressions of this concept:

“Love your family, work safely.”

So now that we know who we work for, and why we want to go home, let me ask the question again, but from a little different perspective, and in a little more depth:

Who do you work for?

What is the company like?

Are they professional?

Do they treat you with respect, or are you just there to make them money?

Is the equipment clean and maintained, or is duct tape a routine part of your vehicle maintenance program?

Do you have professional apparel with your com-pany’s logos on them or are you advertising for someone/something else?

Are you trained properly or at all?

Does the company follow the industry standards (ANSI Z133, A300), or even know about them?

Does it follow governmental regulations?

• DOT

o Do you routinely perform pre and post trip inspections?

o Are all of the drivers qualified drivers?

o Are all CMV and CDL requirements met?

• OSHA injury and illness reporting and recording

o Does the company know what constitutes an OSHA-recordable incident?

o Does it report/record every incident as re-quired by law?

o Are some incidents swept under the rug to keep the numbers low?

What does your company equipment/uniforms look like?

Do you perform pre and post trip inspections?

The last part of the question, “Who do you work for?” deals with the leaders in your organization. It could be the president of the company, a manager, supervisor, crew leader, whoever impacts your work life the most. (If you don’t know anything about emotional intelligence, or the difference between a boss and a leader, now might be a good time to do a little research…)

Do the leaders in your organization truly lead?

Do they inspire, coach, and treat people with respect?

Or do they threaten, yell (a lot), throw things and

Who do you work for? continued fom page 1

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You suddenly find yourself on the aiming end of an amazing tree care implement: a pneumatic air excavation tool. These versatile appara-tuses are being used for many types of soil excavating operations, including tree root and trunk excavations. Often, the need to see what is happening underground in the tree root zone is critical to making the right management choices regarding future tree health. Pneumatic soil loosening (or the least injurious method to meet the objective) is the preferred method of mitigating compacted soil with-in the root zone of plants. Pneumatic air is used to fracture heavy, compacted soils to allow better air and water movement in the soil biology environment with minimal tree root damage.

A powerful stream of air is generated from an air compressor that focuses the air stream through a small nozzle. With the nozzle aimed at the ground, the force of the air separates whatever it is pointing at, almost down to the molecule. Pneumatic air excavation tools throw soil with a great deal of force in unpredictable directions. Prior training on the equipment in a non-critical setting is important before trying to direct flying dirt and rocks in a manicured lawn setting.

Before you start blasting away at the ground near the base of a tree, there are a few things you ought to know.

Discuss These Things With Your Customer • Agree on the depth of the compacted layer to be loosened ahead

of time. The soil excavation depth will impact the amount of time spent on the project.

• Find out if the customer expects to keep any of the existing plants in the excavation area. If so, then plan to carefully remove them beforehand and temporarily store them in a cool, protected area.

• Consider the removal of grass or sod beforehand. The air excava-tion tools will not easily cut through grass so removal with other methods is recommended.

Prepare the Work Area• Prepare the soil by applying water around the tree one or two days

prior to the work being done. This will help soften the soil and keep the dust down. If the soil is compacted, the moisture content should be less than field capacity before being mechanically tilled. Soil that is too wet or too dry will slow or stop an air excavation.

TREEWORKER | SEPTEMBER 2016continued on page 6

push people?

Are they the kind of leader who makes you want to do better, and helps you get there?

Or are they a boss who hides from responsibility and places blame on those around them?

Do they let other people do their dirty work?

Do they know it all and tell you often how smart they are?

Do they ask you questions, listen to you and remember what you’ve said?

So, one more time I will ask, who do you work for?

Pneumatic Air Excavation:It’s a Blast!

Trenching with an air tool exposes roots for inspection.

Practice directing flying debris away from manicured lawns.

PUBLISHED BY THE TREE CARE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION TCIA.ORG 800-733-26226

• Even with pre-moistened soil as dust control, check to see that nearby windows are closed before excavating.

• Fragile property near the excavation site should be protected with tarps, or several sheets of ply-wood hinged together. These types of barriers should capture the flying debris, and also act as a corral to collect soil from the excavation. This is important if soil is to be removed from the site or used as backfill.

• Protect any surface that could be chipped or dam-aged by dislodged soil or rocks. Cover windows with plywood and move nearby vehicles.

• Keep all pedestrians and vehicular traffic clear of the work zone.

• Follow all the manufacturers’ recommendations for proper setup and operation of this tool.

The Process• To avoid injury, the operator must wear the proper

personal protection equipment which includes: hard hat with attached face shield, hearing pro-tection that provides a NRR of at least 20 dB, eye protection, and gloves. Additionally, long pants, a long sleeved shirt and/or coveralls must be worn.

• The operator should hold the tool with one hand gripping the trigger handle and the other placed halfway down the barrel. This will help brace the tool against the force of the compressed air.

• For regular excavation procedure, hold the nozzle upright about 1 inch away from the surface of the ground.

• Depress the trigger and move the nozzle from side. The compressed air will loosen the soil and blow it ahead of the device.

• During root collar excavations, direct the nozzle at an angle of 30 to 50 degrees from horizontal and point it in the direction that is to be excavated. This quickly moves the soil out of the work area.

• Larger and deeper holes or trenches should be completed in several lifts (layers). Move the tool back and forth across the desired area of the ex-cavation to loosen the soil to a depth of several inches. Remove with a shovel, backhoe, or vacu-um apparatus. Repeat until the preferred depth is reached.

• Plunging the tool under pressure into loose soil – or when boring a narrow hole – will expose the operator to fractured soil blown directly back out of the hole. This blown back soil is traveling at an extremely high velocity and force. Reduce the chance of injury by ensuring the dirt shield is in place on the barrel and is close to the ground to confine flying material.

• Keep the nozzle moving to reduce blow back dam-age. When possible (except in trenching) direct the air flow parallel to the direction of major root growth, away from the base of the tree.

• Never leave an open hole or trench. Backfill trenches with some of the removed soil or mulch.

The PurposePneumatic air excavation tools can be used for a variety of purposes. Loosening compacted ground will allow water penetration into dense clay soils and prepare the area for new plantings. This is es-pecially important when planting within the drip line of an established tree. It can also be used in root collar excavations to examine for girdling roots, to remove excess soil over the root flare to alleviate stress, and to disrupt root grafts.

Air excavation is useful to perform underground utility trenching operations with little damage to tree roots. Anytime there is a need for underground exposures with minimal tree root disturbance, con-sider pneumatic air excavation tools.

Photos: International Society of Arboriculture, Inter-national Society of Arboriculture, Bugwood.orgDave Leonard, Dave Leonard Consulting Arborist, Inc., Bugwood.org

Luana Vargas, Bugwood.org

Pneumatic Air Excavation: It’s a Blast!

77TREEWORKER | SEPTEMBER 2016

Mr. Safetyby Bryan Kotwica

Air Excavation Operation

PUBLISHED BY THE TREE CARE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION TCIA.ORG 800-733-26228 Answers for JULY/AUG2016 CEU Quiz: 1. a 2. b 3. d 4. c 5. c

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ISSN 1529-4854Editor – Tchukki Andersen, Staff Arborist,

BCMA, CTSPContributing Writer - Tim Walsh, CTSPGraphic Design & Layout – Kathleen Costello©2016 All rights reserved. All materials con-

tained herein are for the information of The TreeWorker subscribers. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION IS NOT PERMITTED. Pic-tures, articles and other data are in no way to be construed as an endorsement of products, techniques or members.

The TreeWorker is published monthly by the Tree Care Industry Association, Inc., 136 Harvey Road, Suite 101, Lon-donderry, NH 03053

Call 1-800-733-2622 to order and Sachin Mohan at ext. 111 to advertise. Articles in The TreeWorker meet the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard Z133 for safe-ty in arboricultural operation and the ANSI A300 series of standards for the management of trees. These standards are industry consensus standards that apply only to readers in the United States of America.

The TreeWorker readers in countries other than the United States of America are cautioned that your local and/or nation-al standards may or may not be similar to ANSI standards. You are advised to research and apply your local and/or national standards to all standard practices represented in The TreeWorker articles.