By K. C. Pawling, Road Safety and Loss Prevention Specialist
The winter months at Highway Departments are a great time to have department employees focus on areas of responsibility other than the usual driving surface maintenance. One of the areas that gets a little more focus during the winter months (should the weather cooperate) is tree and brush removal. We all understand that this is, by state statute, a landowner responsibility but there are always areas of concern that need to be addressed before Counties can convince a landowner that there is a need to be addressed.
When you are trying to determine where to focus your attention and resources, concentrate on areas that sight distances may need to be improved. These are areas near intersections, railroad crossings and driveways. When evaluating sight distances, it is important to remember that the height used is three and a half (3.5) feet as noted in the MUTCD. This is the standard height that was determined and used for a passenger car. So, if you are using a pickup you may need to get out and do your assessment at the height of 3.5 feet.
Other areas to focus your tree and brush cutting on are areas that cause snow drifting on the roads, and areas where there are tree and brush issues, for example: places where trees are damaging road maintenance equipment and trees growing up under and around bridges.
Contacting landowners is always a “best practice” prior to cutting trees and brush. It improves public relations and hopefully provides the opportunity to develop a positive relationship with landowners. When you are talking with landowners, take the time to explain the reasons you are removing trees and brush. They may not understand the issue of line of sight, but they do generally understand the issue of snow drifting on the roads.
Understanding where property lines are located is extremely important. You do not want to cut trees and brush on private property without written permission. If you are at all doubting where property lines are located, have a survey done to get the exact location. You want to ensure that you are not removing any trees and brush located on private property without written permission.
Other things to think about before tree cutting are: where and how are you going to dispose of cut trees and brush? It is a good idea to have a plan prior to starting your removal project. You also need to ensure that you will be using proper signing and barricading techniques. Barricades are always a good idea when doing this type of work. Barricading off the work area helps limit the exposure that the road crews will have to traffic. The barricades and signs need to be placed prior to any work taking place.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention that you also need to remember the safety of the County’s greatest asset, the employees. Make sure that all employees are using the proper PPE, which includes chaps, hearing protection, leather gloves, hard hat, safety glasses or goggles, face shield and safety toed footwear. Make sure your chainsaws and other equipment you will be using is in good, properly working condition. Do not let your employees or coworkers cut trees out of any loader buckets or any other equipment not designed and approved for personnel lifting. If you are needing any training on topics related to tree cutting, do not hesitate to contact us here at NIRMA. Let’s make sure that all our employees and co-workers make it home every night.
Please let me know of any questions by contacting me at kcpawling@nirma.info or 402-310-4417. Be Safe.
