Davey Tree Flipbooks

13 September/October 2025 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN Tree professionals put in just as much, if not more, physical and mental work into their craft as athletes do in their sport, according to Jason Sakihara and Matt Krause. The pair presented on the concept of tree care industry workers as "industrial athletes" at the Southern California Edison 2025 Safety Forum in California. Krause, safety and training field manager, Davey Tree Surgery Company, focused on the benefits of ergonomic stretching and promoting health, wellbeing and career longevity for employees. Sakihara, Industrial Athlete Program field manager, Surgery Company, talked about the goals, actions and results of the Davey Tree Industrial Athlete Program, which works to reduce the number of soft-tissue injuries on the job. "Matt Krause often makes the point that sports athletes typically get an 'off season' to rest, reload and prepare for the next season – industrial athletes, however, often have the opposite," Sakihara said. "They tend to have portions of the year, like storm response and fire season, where they are working overtime to help protect and repair the utility system from these weather-related events. This should equate to even more deliberate care for the machine that is the human body from both an injury prevention and performance standpoint." REDUCING INJURIES FOR DAVEY'S INDUSTRIAL ATHLETES VISION DAVEY HELPS TO KEEP USGA ADAPTIVE ATTENDANTS SAFE Jason Sakihara speaks to a crowd at the Southern California Edison 2025 Safety Forum about research on the internal muscle damage field workers incur while on the job, even when they say they're pain free. With the help of diligent Davey crews, the world's best golfers with disabilities enjoyed safe and excellent playing conditions at Woodmont Country Club, a Davey client in Rockville, Maryland. In preparation for the USGA Adaptive Open in Maryland, a golf tournament working to make the sport more accessible, local Residential/Commercial Davey crews pruned trees along the entryway and cleared debris around the course to ensure the space was safe for all attendants. The three-round, 18-hole tournament is open to any amateur or professional golfer with physical and cognitive impair- ments. Woodmont Country Club, which has been a Davey client for over 15 years, hosted the event. "I'm happy we're involved with such an important aspect of athletics in our region," Brian Leatherman, assistant district manager, Washington D.C. office, said. "This is a great tournament that showcases the highest level of skill and competition, and it plays an important part in the community and in the sport of golf." Davey will continue to be an event sponsor in 2026. "This work lives out our mission of being at the forefront of the community," Leatherman said. "It helps show we are stewards of the environment and that we have a heart for people that have challenges in life."

• Cover