2019 ASHS Annual Conference

During the 2018 hurricane season two powerful storms ravaged parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina: Florence in September and Michael in October. These storms destroyed trees throughout the Southeast. The residents, professional tree care companies, and public entities responded by reaching for their chainsaws and getting to work. Given the dangers of arborist work, the inexperience of many chainsaw users, and the unique dangers inherent in storm-damaged tree removal, the need for safety training was urgent. A storm-damaged tree cleanup safety training was created and implemented as quickly as possible with support from the OSHA Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. The goal was to create a one-hour training that could be rapidly delivered by county agents. Powerpoint presentations and scripts were created covering personal protective equipment, stinging/biting insects, safe saw carry, site inspection, and safe saw start. Program evaluations were developed, and publications prepared. The training received one International Society of Arboriculture continuing education credit. All materials were located on a website for easy access (https://ugaurbanag.com/disaster/). In a train-the-trainer format, county extension agents in South Carolina and North Carolina were provided with instruction, demonstration equipment, publications, PowerPoints, and program evaluations with the expectation that they would then provide training to first responders in their counties. Five agents from Georgia with previous experience in saw safety trained 15 agents in South Carolina and 14 in North Carolina by mid-December. Each agent received a training kit consisting of hard hats, chaps/saw pants, safety glasses, ear plugs/muffs, and ANSI Standard Z133 Safety Requirements for Arboricultural Operations. As of mid-February, agents had trained over 350 people. The average class size was small (14.5 people). Evaluations were positive. Ninety percent of the participants said they learned something they did not know previously and everyone who responded to the question said they would recommend the training to others. The training has helped strengthen ties between city and county departments and Cooperative Extension. The impact of this project will continue as agents now have the resources to address emergency response issues in the future.