MACHINERY
Chainsaw kickback can be a killer
The death last month of a tree surgeon in Bermondsey , London highlights just how dangerous chainsaws can be , even in experienced hands . Indeed , short of a loaded gun with the safety catch off a chainsaw is probably the most lethal item you as a smallholder will own . The victim had , by all
Chainsaw kickback : the aftermath accounts , followed all the relevant health and safety regulations in that he was firmly harnessed to the tree thus preventing him from falling to the ground in case his ladder should slip or break , and in addition his saw was tethered to the tree by a rope . However , while using the saw to cut a limb , he is believed to have suffered a “ kickback ” with the saw jumping into his neck and slicing into his carotid artery , resulting in him quickly losing consciousness and bleeding rapidly to death . Co-workers on the ground only realised that something was amiss when they heard the tethered saw droning monotonously on rather than revving and slowing down again as is usual with an
operating saw . Looking up into the tree they found their colleague slumped in his harness , dead , with the saw dangling from its rope beside him , still idling . Kickback occurs as a result of the movement of the chainsaw chain around the guide bar . Typically , the chain is driven out of the bar on the top side of the bar , around the nose of the bar and is drawn back into the machine along the bottom .
This motion therefore results in two distinct actions . Using the saw to cut from underneath the branch , ie cutting with the top edge of the saw , results in the saw being pushed back towards the operator and it is the task of the operator to hang on to the saw to prevent this backward motion . Using the saw to cut from the top down , ie with the cutting
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