Photo By Stacey Reese | Eufaula Lake Maintenance Worker Christopher Poindexter makes the initial cuts to fell...... read more read more
FORT GIBSON, Okla. –The Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a chainsaw safety course at Fort Gibson Lake from March 3-7.
This training was conducted in response to recent chainsaw-related accidents within the district, emphasizing Tulsa District’s commitment to enhancing employee safety and promoting best practices.
“This district-wide training, provided by a professional sawyer and trainer, enables our employees to learn proper techniques of felling trees safely and maintaining equipment,” said Fort Gibson Lake Manager Gregg Moydell. “It reinforces our commitment to safety and ensures that staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge to prevent accidents.”
The five-day course, led by Jeff Myers, a U.S. Forest Service Level C sawyer evaluator, combined classroom learning with hands-on field training. To become a Level C sawyer with the Forest Service, the person must have advanced skills with a chainsaw and be certified to handle large or hazardous trees, train other sawyers and evaluate cutting operations.
Over the first two and a half days, participants received in-depth classroom
instruction covering:
• Safe chainsaw operations
• Hazard recognition and kickback
• Personal protective equipment
• Types of cuts , bucking the tree – ensuring the tree can be efficiently transported by cutting the tree to specific lengths based on their intended purpose while also taking safety concerns into consideration
• Injury prevention, situational awareness
• Hazard elimination
• Felling a tree
Following the classroom training, participants took to the field to apply their knowledge in a real-world setting, providing valuable practical experience under the guidance of Myers and the Tulsa District safety team.
A critical focus of the training is using proper personal protective equipment. Employees participating in the course and those using chainsaws in their regular duties must wear specific protective gear to minimize the risk of injury. Essential PPE for chainsaw operation includes gloves, a long-sleeved fitted shirt, fitted long pants, a hard hat with earmuffs and a face screen, safety glasses, chainsaw protective chaps, and steel-toed lace-up work boots.
“This type of training is a key component of the district’s safety and occupational health management system program,” Moydell added. “The program is part of the district’s commitment to reducing work-related accidents and injuries through appropriate training and best practices.”
Holding the training at Fort Gibson Lake also had a secondary benefit to the lake’s environmental stewardship mission. By selectively thinning diseased, dead and invasive trees, the overall health of the hardwoods in the area is improved. This thinning allows for the regeneration of a healthy forest and increased habitat for multiple bird, mammal and reptile species.
Kole Bowman, civil engineer technician at Keystone Lake, said he learned a lot from the training about properly cutting trees and utilizing cuts to get trees to fall the way he wants them to fall.
“I will be able to utilize the techniques I learned on and off of the project to help with habitat management,” said Bowman.
Training and safety courses like this chainsaw training are essential for protecting employees and the public. These courses equip employees with skills to safely fell dead trees, reducing the risk of hazardous falls that can endanger the recreating public.
| Date Taken: | 03.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.17.2025 11:45 |
| Story ID: | 493020 |
| Location: | FORT GIBSON, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 44 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cutting risks – Tulsa District holds chainsaw safety training at Fort Gibson Lake, by Stacey Reese, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
