In Training
Trinidad Yanez climbs a
Mexican fan palm tree.
Davey's San Diego R/C Foreman Pablo Urbina
and Groundman Dan Defelice, as well as
Recruiter/Trainer Eduardo Medina (pictured left
to right), attempt to set the line over the canopy.
16 | January/February 2014
A
few of Davey's Southwestern crews have
adopted a new training program this
year—the Single Rope Technique (SRT).
The State of California's Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (CalOSHA) initiated
the SRT training program to prevent serious
accidents among palm tree climbers. The SRT
technique requires climbers to throw the ball
of rope over the skirt or "beard" of the tree,
rather than underneath it, to avoid the risk of
extra weight collapsing dead leaves overhead.
For tree care work performed on palm
trees with more than three years of growth,
the law now requires climbers to use SRT on
trees bucket trucks cannot access. "The basic
principles of SRT include climbing trees
safely and efficiently, as well as increasing
production," explains Davey's San Diego
R/C District Manager Daniel Kump.
The Davey crews involved with the training
can use the SRT tool to not only climb
safely but also improve the skills required
to accomplish jobs they deemed unsafe to do
before. "This type of training could eventually
expand across the board to all states," explains
Davey's Las Vegas R/C District Manager
Matt Haro, who found out about the training
in early August.
Davey's Las Vegas R/C and San Diego R/C
offices organized two SRT training programs
in separate locations in fall. Regional Safety
Specialist Jeremy Lewis led each program,
along with Recruiter/Trainer Eduardo Medina.
Lewis instructed one of Haro's crews during
a half-day session in August, then returned in
early November for more hands-on and team-
oriented training. Foreman Trinidad Yanez and
Groundman Celestino Ibarra participated in the
fall training at a residential home in Las Vegas,
where two Mexican fan palms with approxi-
mately 8 to 10 years of growth had stood. "We
were able to set-up one of the trees," Haro says.
Davey's San Diego R/C Foreman Pablo
Urbina and Groundman Dan Defelice partici-
pated in the Rancho Santa Fe-area training as
well. Kump sums up the program's importance:
"We're learning new techniques to add to the
tool box of what we can do."
Adding Skills to the Davey Tool Box
