WCN_Dec17WEB

Don’t Trim your Safety Program
this Season–Train on Pruning
Hazards
By Amy Wolfe | MPPA, CFRE
President and CEO, AgSafe
Around 11 a.m. or so, an employee pruning with bypass
shears reaches for a branch and catches his finger in
his shears. Does this sound familiar? What about someone
falling from an orchard ladder? Pruning is a necessary part
of orchard management, but before pruning begins, training
on safety hazards is essential. Pruning safety training doesn’t
have to be vigorous. Depending on the type of equipment used
during the pruning process, addressing common equipment,
chainsaws, ladders, and hand tools does the job.
Pruning Equipment
Pruning equipment varies from pruning towers to shredders.
Whichever your orchard requires, all employees need to
be trained on the specific piece of equipment they will operate
prior to operation.
POWERFUL PERFORMANCE.
“KOOL” COMFORT.
The low, sleek New Holland T4 Series with the industry-exclusive KOOL CAB ®
is the ideal tractor to ease through orchard rows, protecting nuts and fruit, while
also protecting operators in complete comfort. The 70 to 98-PTO-horsepower
Tier 4-certified engines give you the power and performance you need for
demanding work in rugged conditions. And, the KOOL CAB keeps operators at
their productive best with these features:
• Ultimate visibility to front, side and rear—not
found on most Orchard cabs
• This cab is ROPS-certified for operator safety
—an industry-exclusive—and ISO-mounted to
be vibration-free
• Quiet, cool and roomy cab design that’s sleek
and less than 91 inches
• Standard limb lifter sweeps limbs up and over
the cab to protect valuable nuts and fruit
• The right horsepower for your demands—
All with KOOL CAB comfort
Garton Tractor, Inc.
4780 South K Street
Tulare, CA 93274
(559) 686-0054
Pruning towers present a significant hazard—falling. When
an employee is in a pruning tower, ensure that the platform has
a guardrail at least 36 inches in height surrounding the entire
platform. If the guardrail is less than 42 inches above the platform
floor, a safety belt attached to a lifeline anchorage needs to
be worn. In addition to physical safety measures of the actual
equipment, your operation is required to have a written emergency
procedure to address what to do should the person in the
tower become unable to operate it. All employees who will work
from the pruning tower need to be trained both on the equipment
and the emergency procedures.
Shredders pose a different hazard from a pruning tower.
Shredders are designed to break down the brush left from pruning.
Shredders do not distinguish between a branch or a human
limb. For this reason, ensure that employees are trained on the
following elements prior to operation:
• Review the shredder operator manual.
• Use required personal protective equipment (PPE) such as
ear plugs, safety glasses and gloves.
• Ensure other workers maintain a safe distance from where
shredding is occurring.
• Check to ensure machine guards are in place and in good
condition.
• Stay away from moving parts, always turn the power off and
remove the key before working around or performing main-
www.garton-tractor.com Continued on Page 26
24 West Coast Nut December 2017
© 2014 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by
or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affi liates. Kool Cab is a registered trademark of Saf-T-Cab Inc.