We Want Your Safety Stories!

At TCIA, we consider every month to be “safety month.” But we get a chance to really highlight safety during the month of June, which is National Safety Month!

Worker safety and professionalism are a primary focus of TCIA, and we want to feature your safety stories, tips and/or photos throughout the month of June. Do you have unique safety practices that prevent serious accidents? Is one of your employees an excellent example of all things safety?

Here are a few past stories from other TCIA members, some of whom were recognized with the 2014 Safety Award:

Donny Coffey, Bartlett Tree Experts: On a weekly to bi-weekly basis, Donny prepares a detailed email, which he named “foreman footnotes,” to all his State College teammates. The email provides a brief summary of the week’s activities that could include close calls, customer service issues, technical advice, compliments and other timely information. Sometimes his emails will contain links to videos or “challenge” questions. If a teammate answers correctly, there is a prize of some kind. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, inspiring a lot of conversation and stimulating growth and improvement.

Brother’s Tree Service: As a small company, Brothers Tree Service is being recognized for its daily “safety roundtable” activity. Each morning, the team discusses, reflects and prepares for the day ahead. They look at communication, safety, morale, production, defensive driving, the ANSI standards, Tailgate Safety, PPE, work planning and team building, as well as initiatives unique to their team that they call Brother’s Keeper and Big Eyes.

More TCIA member safety tips:

“Always carry your cell phone on your person. Was doing a tree risk assessment and left my phone in the truck so I would not be bothered by constant calls. As I walked to the back of the condo complex, I slipped on an ivy slope breaking my leg and dislocating my ankle. As I lay in the ditch without my phone, I called for help for 20 minutes. With no one coming, I crawled to the road where a worker saw me. He got my phone from my truck, I called 911 and now I’m recovering. Lesson learned. Will always have my phone on me.” - Robert Brettschneider, CTSP from member company Boutte Tree, Inc.

“Not mine, but a great truth: Safety is not something you can take for granted. It is not an activity in which one participates only when being watched or supervised. Safety is not posters, slogans or rules, nor is it movies, investigations or inspection. Safety is an Attitude, a frame of mind. It is the awareness of one’s environment and actions, all day, every day. Safety is knowing what is going on around you, knowing what can injure anyone anything, at any time, [and] knowing how to prevent that injury and then acting to prevent it. To do this does not require a PhD or even a title or rank. All it requires is a little intelligence and a reasonable amount of common sense and awareness (To see, to hear, to smell, to think and take action). To ignore safe practices does not indicate bravery, only foolishness. To do things safely and correctly is the mark of professionalism.”  – Sam Kezar, CTSP, North American Training Solutions

Send us your stories

Submit your safety stories, tips and/or photos to marketing@tcia.org, and we will share your content via the TCIA Blog, social media, and our newsletters. And don’t forget to “like” TCIA on Facebook, and follow @VoiceofTreeCareon Twitter for exclusive safety month tips, content and resources from TCIA!