[at-l] Safety training

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 12:53 PM 11/15/2004 -0500, RoksnRoots@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 11/15/2004 9:41:47 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>jbullar1@twcny.rr.com writes:
>*
>*
>*
>NYS DEC requires chainsaw users to have safety training to do trail work on
>state land. No convincing, no exceptions. You want to use a chainsaw, you
>have to go through the training and be certified. When I worked for DOL we
>hired 135 temporary workers after the Ice Storm of 1998 to do cleanup along
>public roadways and in public parks. We conducted training, provided
>helmets, chaps, etc.
>*
>
>         OK, but where is the state effort to make sure these new stringent
>rules don't interfere with volunteerism and productivity? I see the state 
>making
>it difficult for individual volunteers without showing any measures to
>compensate for that difficulty. Is it the state's job to just make it more 
>difficult
>without recourse? Many people have been clearing the AT with chainsaws since
>the Trail began. If the state wants to get involved it should also do so on
>the productivity end as well...

In the case I quoted, the people involved were temporary employees so they 
were paid to attend the training for certification. The state does not pay 
volunteers to attend the training and get certified, OTOH if they permit 
just anyone to go on state land to clear trails with a chain saw and 
someone gets hurt the state WILL get sued. By controlling who can do it 
they can cover them under the Workers Compensation program. I am covered by 
WC anytime I do lean-to maintenance. Does it make it easy to get volunteers 
when they have to prove they can run a chainsaw safely? No, and I hear 
people bitch about it every time it comes up. "I know how to run a damn 
chainsaw. Been doin' it since I was 12". Funny though how many couldn't 
answer the safety questions correctly until after the training. The Lord 
looks after fools and children but the state prefers insurance. Remember, 
it's your tax dollars that would pay the damage settlement if they got 
sued. As for your last line, the state *is* involved when it is state land. 
It's the volunteers that "want to become involved". If you are serious 
about wanting to help do something for public benefit you should be serious 
enough to do it in a responsible way.