Davey Tree Flipbooks

16 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | September/October 2020 The San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) Trees account, Davey Tree Surgery Company, began working on a reliability tree project on Palomar Mountain in February. This project wrapped up in mid-August. The goal of this project was to trim trees with the potential to strike the powerlines. Ten crews worked on this project. "On a standard reliability tree, we are trying to get three years of clearance out of it," said Brian Friedrich, area manager. "On the dead or dying trees, we are going for strike potential avoidance. We are bringing that tree to a level where it's not quite a removal, but it won't impact the powerlines for a minimum of five years." The crews were mainly working on large dead or dying coniferous trees, along with large black oak trees. The crews had to hike into these rights of way and bring in all their rigging equipment to complete the work. "Had these been bucket trees, it only would have helped the crew reach the first 60 or 70 feet", he said. "They would continue on climbing from there. It was enjoyable to watch them working in these large trees and in such a professional and safe manner." Friedrich said Oscar Escarcega, safety trainer, was pivotal in training the employees to take down these large trees and introduced the crews to climbing and rigging techniques that would assist them with this work. "I think having support from the regional safety trainers has been a great asset to everything that we do," Friedrich said. "It's been a great addition to the safety program for the Surgery Company." A lot of pre-planning work was done prior to the start of this project. Friedrich's advice to anyone planning to tackle a large project like this one is to start planning early and not on the fly. He also suggests sticking with the same crews throughout the duration of the project. "The crews for this project were not rotated out and they stuck with this project the entire time," he said. "They were familiar with the area and the environment on the mountain. Everyone we sent up there did a great job and they were incident-free." Friedrich is proud of how his crews value safety. He says they are a great blend of experienced employees and newer employees. "We have a family type atmosphere," Friedrich said. "Everyone has an ability to speak up and speak their mind if they are not comfortable with something and can ask for assistance at any time. This goes for routine work or larger project type work." Above: The SDG&E Trees account has a lot of seniority and talent, according to Brian Friedrich. With help from their safety trainer and the experience of their field management staff they have worked to create open lines of communication and have built their safety culture over the last 15 years. If they need to bring in their safety trainer for special trainings, they will do it. The driving force behind their safety culture is for everyone to come to work, do their work safely and go home to their families each night. A SAFETY CULTURE BASED ON CONSISTENCY AND CONTINUITY SAFETY

• Cover