The TCIA Safety Awards recognize exemplary action in two areas. The Outstanding Individual/Crew Performance award recognizes an individual's or crew's heroic reaction to an emergency situation. The Outstanding Company Contribution award recognizes a member's proactive program to address safety issues within its own company or within a larger sphere of influence.
To submit nominations for the Safety Award, Click Here or watch for application forms printed in the Reporter.
With your application, please provide a photo of the individual(s) being nominated, and be sure to include as much detail as possible. Artwork and/or photos are requested to depict your recognition efforts. (If you are unable to download the nomination form here, request one by calling TCIA at 800-733-2622.)
The deadline for submitting nominees for Safety Awards is in November. Safety Awards for the current year will be presented at the next Winter Management Conference.
With respect to the Outstanding Company Contribution Award, please note that a year of no accidents - while commendable - is not grounds for recognition unless you can point to specific activities that resulted in an accident-free year.
TCIA safety awards honor rescues and training
The 2009 TCIA Safety Awards were presented on Safety Day at Winter Management Conference in Hawaii in February.
One of TCIA’s outcomes in the Transformation of the Industry is to lower the accident rate and improve worker safety. Our Safety Awards recognize both outstanding contributions of companies and the heroic actions of their employees in this regard.
Outstanding Individual/Crew Performance: 2 awards
1) Sean Schanbacher, a PHC technician for Bartlett Tree Experts in Pennsylvania, was preparing to service a client’s property August 10, when he noticed an individual in obvious distress, laying in the sideyard at a neighboring home. The victim had taken a bad fall off a ladder, sustaining a head injury, numerous deep cuts and a compound fracture of his arm. Keeping his composure, Sean called 911, retrieved his first aid kit and commenced treatment. Sean made a second call to 911, and began treating the victim for shock. In the 12 minutes that it took paramedics to arrive and take over, Sean very likely saved the victim’s life with his actions.
2) Robert Wells of Townsend Tree Service was surveying a transmission line in rural Georgia November 6 when he heard over his radio that a climber from another tree service in the area had fallen out of a tree. Being close by, Robert went immediately to the area, located the victim and called 911, then flagged down assistance at a nearby highway. EMTs could not traverse the rough terrain to reach the victim, so Robert and his crew created a makeshift stretcher with a tarp and transported the victim to where the EMTs could render aid. The victim had a broken rib, dislocated hip and hairline fracture in his neck. Robert’s assistance helped overcome the language barrier, which had prevented the victim’s crew from being able to summon aid.
Outstanding Company Contribution: 5 awards
1) Lucas Tree Experts in Portland, Maine, rededicated itself to safety in 2009 by implementing or enhancing at least 15 separate safety initiatives company-wide. As evidence of its efforts, three out of the four members of its safety department became CTSPs in the past year, and Lucas experienced a 25 percent reduction in its OSHA-recordable injuries.
2) S & S Tree Specialists in South Saint Paul, Minn., created and implemented an innovative aerial rescue training session this past spring. The brought in Dr. John Ball to lead and facilitate the session. Crews spent the morning discussing rescue and the most common scenarios in which rescue might be necessary. They spent the afternoon practicing and perfecting rescue techniques. An EMT provided input on medical considerations as scenarios were presented to participants.
3) Townsend Tree Service highlighted safety as its number one core value and took several decisive steps to reinforce its philosophy internally, including: posting its values in every office, expanding the safety department training resources with two mobile training units, starting a weekly safety newsletter, implementing weekly field manager conference calls, and devising an safety incentive program that evaluates attitude, behavior and performance criteria.
4) University of Massachusetts & Bartlett Tree Experts entered into a joint research project in the aftermath of a serious accident at another company in which an employee severed a climbing line with a hand saw. The gist of the project with Dr. Brian Kane at UMass was to look at the propensity of various climbing lines to be cut by hand saws under real-world parameters of rope tension and saw force. Bartlett funded the work, participated in the actual experimentation and shared all results with the industry.
5) Vine & Branch, Inc. continued its longstanding commitment to hazard tree recognition and awareness through an extensive campaign of speaking engagements, writing efforts, and one-on-one education at consumer and industry trade shows. In 2009 alone, V & B representatives went to five shows, spoke on 13 occasions, and were published numerous times. They continued to build their Web presence concerning hazard trees. Twice they taught a pro bono seven-hour course on their tree inspection program.
