As we are heading into the 2022 field season, here are some additional emphasis areas/refresher topics and Lessons Learned links that could be helpful during your saw trainings and refreshers.
- Training/Recertification/Evaluation — As we are onboarding new and returning employees, May and June are two of the busiest months for saw trainings, evaluations, and recertification’s. Currently in Region 4 with over 2500 certified sawyers, we have several trainings and evaluations taking place amongst our partners, volunteers, and USFS employees. It doesn’t matter if you are a “Bucking Only” volunteer organization or an Interagency Hotshot Crew, using chainsaws or crosscuts, preplanning for a medical emergency is just as important in a training scenarios as it is in an operational scenario. Do we treat ‘training’ cutting situations different than we treat ‘operational’ cutting situations? Where should an evaluator be during the cutting operation? Where should the rest of the students be? How many people are ‘okay’ to be around the base of the tree because its training? Here are some Lessons Learned that may be valuable to you as you begin your refresher and chainsaw trainings:
- Change in Complexity — We do a good job determining complexity of a saw operation in a somewhat static environment prior to even turning on the saw. We go through each component of OHLEC looking to identify hazards, determine leans and binds and then essentially develop and articulate a plan to safely put a tree on the ground or buck a log off a trail. Based on the OHLEC size-up we ask our ourselves the question, “Do I have the skills and ability to safely complete this cutting operation?” However, once we put the saw into a tree we are creating a dynamic situation where complexity can easily change based on a number of factors; i.e., rotten wood fiber that was not previously identified, incorrectly identified leans or binds, unintentionally cut more wood than planned, created a dutchman or bypass changing the intended direction of fall, or the tree began to fall and is now hung-up. All of these scenarios would cause your plan to change and for complexity to change. If your cut plan has changed from what you originally had planned for, take a tactical pause and understand something different is happening than what you expected to happen. Take a breath and determine if you still have the skills and ability to safely complete the cutting operation. Remember it is always okay to walk away from any cutting operation and look for alternative methods to safely meet the objective. Here are some resources that may help aid in conversation around changing complexity.
A reminder that the Interim Directive (ID) that extends sawyer certifications will expire on Dec 31, 2022. Please continue to seek opportunities to do recertification’s when possible. Thank you for all the work that you do and please let me know if you have any questions. Please share as appropriate.
