Safety Awareness: Protect Your Head

Protect Your Melon

Did you know that 'struck-bys' are the number one cause of injury and death in the tree industry? That means that more and more people are killed every year by branches, logs, or trees falling on them and striking them somewhere on the body or head. That is an awful lot of injuries and deaths that could possibly be reduced or avoided altogether. So what would be the best way to reduce climbing accidents you ask? Protective climbing helmets and effective communication!

We have tons of awesome customers that share photos with us on our Facebook page and Instagram feed, and most everyone who post is on point with their PPE game. However, every once in a while we see some photos of people not wearing helmets or other safety equipment. Not cool! We truly care about each and every one of you and we sincerely want to make sure that you are safe everyday you are on the job so that you can make it home at the end of the day to see your family. So we decided to have a sale on safety gear for the whole month of February to make it easier for you to make you and your crew safer!

You Have Options

So first things first: protective climbing helmets. These help protect us by protecting our head from major impacts like logs or branches or anything else that could be falling out of the tree. Helmets are designed with different types of protective systems such as a suspension system or foam padding type system.

Suspension systems use webbing that separates the climber's head from the hard plastic outer shell. In the event that something impacts the helmet, the webbing breaks away from its supports and absorbs the energy from the impact. The hard outer shell is there to help reduce the amount of impact to actual flesh, whereas the suspension system reduces the amount of impact to your bones, neck, and spine.

Helmets that use a foam style system employ a foam insert that rests on top of your head inside the helmet. In the event of a large impact, the foam breaks apart and again, absorbs the energy from the impact. Both style of climbing helmets are tried and tested in the factory as well in the field.

You Can't Afford Not to Purchase a Helmet

So if struck-bys are one of the greatest threats to our lives in the tree care industry, why would someone not wear a helmet? Well, they cost money and some people are barely scraping by as it is. An investment of $100-200 might be out of your price range at the moment. Honestly, hard hats and helmets can be purchased for as little as $20. Wouldn't it make sense to make a measly $20 investment so that you can safely come home at the end of the day to see your family? Maybe your co-workers will make fun of you if you wear a hard hat? Honestly, take your last paycheck from that company, buy a helmet and get a new job somewhere else where they care about their employees. In an industry with so many injuries and deaths per year, there is no room for error when it comes to your personal protection. Don't become a statistic!

Open the Lines of Communication

One of the other things that lead to many of these struck-by accidents is poor communication. Just because you as a climber yell 'headache or stand clear,' this doesn't mean that your grounds person heard you ' too often its small communication errors that lead to catastrophic accidents. The Sena Communication Unit allows you to easily TALK to your ground person, crane operator or other climbers while you work. This is all done hands-free while you are still working. Now, when you are cutting that limb out of the tree, you can simply say 'stand clear' and your grounds person can easily respond with an 'all clear' that can be heard over the sound of your chainsaw or the chipper on the ground. The Sena Communication Unit not only makes your job site a safer place, they also make your job site far more efficient.

We want to thank all of our customers and friends that have sent photos into us for our Facebook page and our Instagram feed. We love seeing what you are up to and what trees you are climbing. Do keep in mind that we are very strict on what photos we share on our page and WILL NOT be sharing any photos of climbers or grounds people not wearing their personal protective equipment. We want to keep promoting great climbing, great gear, and great people through our social media and our daily lives, and we strongly encourage you to do the same! Become an ambassador for safety at your company and try to change the ways of old. Get a lid on you and your employees so everyone can go home at the end of the day safely!

Take Advantage of a Great Deal!

For our part, we are offering a $20 Bartlett gift card to anyone that purchases a helmet over $90! That's $20 off pretty much any helmet on our website! Take advantage of this great offer and maybe put that gift card towards a SENA Communication Unit. We can safely guarantee that you will not be able to go back to working without the system once you've tried it! Stay safe!