UETTDRVC34

RECAP: Finding Your Company Documents

SWMS in an electronic format (eg on a smartphone) may be acceptable if the persons doing the work have ready
access to the document for reference.

The SWMS should be kept available at the location of the work, where it can be readily referenced by affected
persons, or reviewed and revised as necessary.

Your company handbook/company procedures manual should additionally have information on the legislation,
standards, regulations and codes of practise appropriate to climbing for the purpose of vegetation control.

RECAP: Use the following steps to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that
pedestrians and vehicles are not exposed to health and safety risks for

Once a risk assessment has been conducted, the supervisor must obtain or develop a traffic management plan for
the worksite. The Supervisor and/or competent persons must be engaged to monitor the traffic management plan
and guidance scheme at regular intervals or following an incident or changes at the workplace to measure and
ensure its ongoing effectiveness.

In accordance with the hierarchy of control, all worksites must take reasonably practicable steps to separate
pedestrians and vehicles in the workplace. Site risk assessments and traffic management plans should detail the
control measures implemented to achieve this.

Measures to achieve separation include:

 Installation of barriers ;
 Use of high impact traffic control barriers;

If it is not reasonably practicable to implement one of the above control measures and a risk remains consider using:

 Cones
 Signs
 Barriers
 Danger Tape
 Warning Lights

RECAP: Working in hot and cold environments

HOT ENVIRONMENTS

When the body is unable to cool itself through sweating, serious heat illness may occur. The most severe heat
induced illnesses are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. If actions are not taken to treat heat exhaustion, the illness
could progress into heat stroke and possibly death. Environmental factors determining the level of heat stress
include:

 air temperature;
 relative humidity;
 air movement; and
 radiant temperature of the surroundings

The short-term effects of heat stress are:

 reduced concentration and thus promote accidents;

The long-term effects of heat stress include :

 chronic heat exhaustion / reproductive problems.

Some examples of controlling the risk of heat stress using the Hierarchy of Control include:

Control Method Example

operator cabins
maintain insulation
provide shade for outdoor work
Isolation
Training in the effects of heat on the body:

job rotation
hydration testing
fitness assessments
procedures for working in the heat
Administration
Personal Protective The use of cooling vests, uniforms made from breathable fabric. Light
Equipment colours, sunscreen, sunglasses and hats for outdoor work.

COLD ENVIRONMENTS
 Our bodies are unable to acclimatize to cold in the same manner that they can adapt to heat. When the body is
unable to warm itself, serious cold-related illnesses and injury may occur and permanent tissue damage and death
may result. Cold stress is associated with low temperature, high air movement and humidity, for example, from a
high winds combined with rain.

Symptoms are fatigue and drowsiness, uncontrolled shivering, cool bluish skin, slurred speech, clumsy movements,
irritable, irrational or confused behaviour.

Some examples of controlling the risk of cold stress include:

 Select appropriate clothing for cold, wet and windy conditions. Layer clothing to adjust to changing
environmental temperatures.
 Wear a hat and gloves that will assist in keeping water away from your body’s extremities(polypropylene)
 Take frequent short breaks in warm dry shelters to allow the body to warm up.
 Avoid exhaustion or fatigue because energy is needed to keep muscles warm.
 Use a buddy system (work in pairs)
 Drink warm, sweet beverages and avoid drinking caffeine or alcohol.
 Eat warm, high calorie foods like pasta.

Ground and Climber Communication

Lack of reliable communication between a climber and ground crew may lead to unsafe tree operations and
contribute to injury to people.

Only one crew member should give signals at a time. Signals may be visual, audible or a combination of both.
Effective communication is particularly important where the climber cannot:

 see obstructions underneath, particularly when rigging or the climbing system can be tangled
 see if the piece to be cut may contact overhead electric lines or other obstacles.

People using radio equipment should be familiar with the manufacturer’s operating instructions. A secure dedicated
radio frequency should be selected for the duration of the tree operation to prevent interference with other radio
equipment being used in the vicinity of the work site. A constant talk method should be used so the people involved
are aware of the progress of cutting operations. Work should stop immediately if there is a loss of radio
communication. Where radio communication cannot be used other ways to communicate including hand signals,
or whistles should be used.

Climbing Recap: Climbing Rope Working Loads and Breaking Strains

The terms MBS and SWL are critical to working with lowering ropes:

 MBS (minimum breaking strain): This represents the force required to make the rope fail or yield, so in other
words, if you put this force on the rope you'd expect it to break.
 SWL (safe working limit): this is the force that can be applied to a rope (or any other piece of lifting
equipment) to lift, suspend or lower an object without fear of breaking, and includes a margin of safety. It is
sometimes referred to as working load limit (WLL).
 When using equipment you should work to Safe Working Load

The Safe Working Limit of a rope is calculated by dividing the Minimum Breaking Strain by a safety factor. For
example, a rope with a 2500kg MBS, using a factor of 10 if in use for PPE, would give a Safe Working Load of 250kg.
This means that your rope can be expected to safely take a 250kg load and in addition has a substantial safety margin
before reaching a potential breaking point.  

Remember that tying a knot in a rope significantly reduces the strength of the rope. If using a knot, you should
deduct 30-40% off the MBS before applying the safety factor to calculate your SWL. 

The "safety factor" is the ratio between the force that will be applied to a component in a system and the minimum
breaking strength of the component. To calculate the safety factor, divide the gear's minimum breaking strength by
the maximum force it will support. No blanket safe working load (SWL) recommendations can be made for any line
because SWL’s must be calculated based on application, conditions of use, and potential danger to personnel among
other considerations.

The Cordage Institute specifies that the SWL of a rope shall be determined by dividing the Minimum Tensile Strength
of the rope by a safety factor. The safety factor ranges from 1: 5 to 1:12 for non-critical uses and is typically set at
1:15 for life lines.

Climber Responsibilities

 The Climber has an obligation to ensure that their climbing equipment & PPE is in
a safe operating condition and they wear the correct PPE for the job being
conducted or machinery being used.

Examples of correct PPE include:

o Safety boots
o Safety glasses
o Gloves
o High vis
o Arc resistant clothing
o Chainsaw trousers
o Hearing protection
o Arm chaps
o Climbing helmet (6-point harness and chin strap as Australian Standards
AS1801 for Occupational Protective Helmets.)
o Harness
 If a climber is working around the network they have to have a dedicated safety
observer, who is trained and qualified in rescue with an aerial rescue kit on site and
within easy access. Examples of equipment you would find in a tree climbing aerial
recue kit include:
 Before starting work and climbing trees around the network, you should conduct a
thorough prestart check on all climbing equipment you are going to need including
the whole length of your climbing line and a Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) of the
tree/s to be climbed,
Emergency Procedure – Aerial Rescue

Whilst it should be acknowledged that each situation is unique, there needs to be a well-established and properly
communicated emergency procedure.
Depending on the incident, there are a number of other important actions you may need to take, including notifying
WorkSafe and preserving the scene if possible and if safe to do so. The actions include:

1. First and foremost, if the situation is still dangerous or high-risk, call emergency services immediately on 000
2. Informing your supervisor
3. Informing the network operator of an incident
4. Confirming if the incident is reportable to the safety regulator
5. Ensure the incident scene is not disturbed. However, incident scenes can be disturbed if necessary to:
protect a person's health or safety help someone who is injured
6. Complete an Incident/accident report .
7. Once permitted on the worksite: restore, tidy and clean work site.
Aerial Rescue Methods

A complete aerial rescue kit must be made available on the worksite. A functional aerial resuce kit will contain items
such as:

 climbing harness,
 karabiners,
 suitable climbing line,
 lip line or pole belt,
 prusik loop or mechanical ascender/descender,
 climbing spikes,
 lowering rope,
 first aid kit,
 micro pulleys,
 redirect slings,
 pocket knife and lanyard.

The method chosen to carry out the rescue will depend very much on the situation, the competence of the
rescuer(s), the extent of the condition or injuries sustained by the casualty and the available assistance on the
ground.

The following types of rescue may be possible:

1. Using both the casualty’s rope (when long enough and undamaged) and the rescuer’s rope.
A second high point is useful if the casualties system has been compromised and/or the resucer
needs to direct the descent away from the power lines.

Ensure your second high point is safely installed around the trunk and not over a branch.
2. Using a single rope (the casualty’s rope being damaged, trapped or too short).

3. A pole rescue (using climbing irons and a flip line) making a false anchor point, the casualty attached
to the rescuer’s rope.
4. A belay rescue where the rescuer climbs above the casualty taking an additional rope, attaching it to
an anchor and to the casualty and lowering the casualty to the ground. A second high point is useful
 if the casualties system has been compromised and/or the resucer needs to direct the descent
away from the power lines.
5. Using a mobile elevated working platform (EWP).
6. If you suspect a casualty in a tree has got spinal damage, but is breathing, conscious & calm you
should Stabilise, support and reassure them in the tree waiting for the emergency services to
arrive.

If the casualty in the tree is unconscious but breathing, the rescuer will place the casualty in the
Recovery position, once the casualty is on the ground.

RECAP: Treating Wounds

Call 000 if:

 Bleeding is severe

 You suspect internal bleeding

 There is an abdominal or chest wound

 Bleeding can't be stopped after 10 minutes of firm and steady pressure

 Blood spurts out of wound

The method to treat wounds is

1. Stop Bleeding

Apply direct pressure on the cut or wound with a clean cloth, tissue, or piece of gauze until
bleeding stops. If blood soaks through the material, don’t remove it. Put more cloth or gauze on
top of it and continue to apply pressure.

If the wound is on the arm or leg, raise limb above the heart, if possible, to help slow bleeding.
Wash your hands again after giving first aid and before cleaning and dressing the wound.

Do not apply a tourniquet unless the bleeding is severe and not stopped with direct pressure.

2. Clean Cut or Wound

Gently clean with soap and warm water. Try to rinse soap out of wound to prevent irritation.

Don’t use hydrogen peroxide or iodine, which can damage tissue.

3. Protect the Wound

Apply antibiotic cream to reduce risk of infection and cover with a sterile bandage.
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