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Hazard Tree: A Safety Initiative - "Up the Ante"

[Photograph]: Forest Service employees reviewing paperwork.

Reference Materials

Additional materials will be added as we can convert them to electronic format, and agencies join this initiative. Not all materials are available by a link; they are provided for information purposes only.

Clicking on an item in the table below takes you to a short description of the item and if a copy is available, you can link to it from the description.

The indicated Powerpoint files open directly without going to a description; although the description is listed below. By clicking on the number, i.e. 8 or 18, you can go directly to the description.

Current Flagship Presentation:
Hazard Trees - An Interactive Study
(This is a 5 MB .pdf file with 70 pages and will take a while to open. Also listed as #18 below.)

NEW ITEM! 1-26-07
Sim Limb / Top Drop Exercise Video
aka Falling Tree Top / Limb Simulation Exercise Video

(1.) Incident Response Pocket Guide, dated 1/2002	(2.) Northwest Coordination Group (NWCG) Fireline Handbook, dated 1/1998
(3.) USFS Health and Safety Code Handbook, dated 12/1999	(4.) If a Tree Falls (video), dated 1995
(5.) National Snag Hazard Report, dated 1993.	(6.) Reserve Tree Guide, dated 1995
(7.) Long Range Planning for Developed Sites, dated 1992	(8.) Tree Hazards: Recognition and Reduction in Recreation Sites (This is a slide show, converted into a .pdf-type file and takes moment to open)
(9.) Tree Strikes You're Out, dated 1998.	(10.) Industrial Head Protection: Hardhats - The maintenance, Inspection, Precautions, and Replacement, dated July 1997
(11.) ICS-215A Snag Mitigations from Frye's Type I Incident Management Team.	(12.) Potential Green Tree Hazards, dated April 2002. (This is a slide show, converted into a .pdf-type file and takes moment to open)
(13.) Hazard Trees and Me. A hazard tree classroom icebreaker quiz.	(14.) Hazard Tree Risk Management Process.
(15.) Blasting Snags, dated 2000.	(16.) Fire Weakened Trees.(Todd Wilson slides- takes a moment to open.)
(17.) Hazard Trees of the Rocky Mountain Region.(This is a slide show, converted into a .pdf-type file and takes moment to open)	(18.) An Interactive Study - Hazard Tree Powerpoint Presentation. (This is a 12 MB file - it will take a while to open.
(19.) Guy's Vacation 2003 - A Cautionary Tale (.pdf file)	(20.) Snag Brochure Master. (You can copy this and print on card stock. .pdf file)
(21.) Job Hazard Analysis, 6/30/05 (.rtf)
(22.) Sim Limb/Top Drop aka Falling Tree Top/Limb Simulation Exercise Sim Limb Exercise video web site

1. Incident Response Pocket Guide
PMS# 461, NFES# 1077, January 2002,Page 39
Available at http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/pubs.htm or from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Supply, 3833 So. Development Ave., Boise, ID, 83705-5344.

Snag Safety - Environmental conditions that increase snag hazards:
· Strong winds	· Night operations
· Steep slopes	· Diseased or bug-kill areas
Hazard tree indicators:
Trees have been burning for an extended period	· High risk tree species (rot and shallow root system)
· Numerous down trees	· Dead or broken tops and limbs overhead
· Accumulation of down limbs	· Absence of needles, bark or limbs
Leaning or hung-up trees

2. NWCG Fireline Handbook
PMS 410-1, NFES 0065, January 1998
Available at http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/pubs.htm or from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Supply, 3833 So. Development Ave., Boise, ID, 83705-5344. Snags are mentioned along with power lines as examples of hazards (page 5), but did not make the Initial Attack Safety Checklist (page 7). The fireline handbook discusses snag felling (page 48), but very little general snag safety. Snag felling, and saw skills are a related topic, and sawyers may have some of the best “snag intelligence” currently available; however, this program seeks a much broader audience.

Back to Top

3. USFS Health and Safety Code Handbook
FSH 6709.11 December 1999
The Health and Safety Code lacks detailed guidelines or defect information related to snags. Mentioned briefly in falling operations, hazard trees are not mentioned in terms of facilities, campgrounds, roads, or people working in the forest. Indicators, identification and management of tree hazards are absent.

4. If A Tree Falls (video)
PMS 408, NFES 1847, 1995 16 Minutes
This is an excellent awareness raising production, and an outcome of the National Snag Hazard Report. The video can be ordered from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Supply, 3833 So. Development Ave. Boise, ID, 83705-5344, or available at http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/pubs.htm.

5. National Snag Hazard Report
A thorough and detailed document included in its entirety with the "Reference Material." Not all the recommendations from this report were completed. We are not including crew cohesion findings at this time.

Findings:
	Lack of snag hazard awareness at all levels in fire management. Detailed "Snag Intelligence" is needed, such as species and size, burn through time, etc. Management Policies and economic/safety tradeoffs must be communicated and understood. Fatigue, boredom, and familiarity can result in a lack of attention. Many basic rules covered in training are not being applied.
Proposals:
	Strengthen awareness Additional training Awareness flyer/brochure Increased research Produce a video

6. Reserve Tree Guide
A Reserve tree guide is a 14-page USFS Northern Region document intended to provide technical framework for interdisciplinary teams to make informed decisions for resource objectives and safe working practices during harvesting activities.

7. Long Range Planning for Developed Sites
The Context of Hazard Tree Management
Robert Harvey and Paul Hessburg, 1992
The Long Range Planning / Hazard Tree Management is a superb 120 page USFS Pacific Northwest Region publication detailing a comprehensive program to analyze, assess hazards and risk values, document, and manage trees in the vicinity of campgrounds and other facilities. It has excellent photos and descriptions of indicators indicating structural defects in conifer and hardwood species common in the Pacific Northwest. The text has been edited to remove portions related to ongoing management and documentation, but retaining information related to identifying and assessing hazard trees.The entire text will be added to the “Reference Materials” A. S. A. P

8.Tree Hazards: Recognition and Reduction in Recreation Sites - PowerPoint Show
USFS, David Johnson and Robert James, 1978
The Tree Hazards: Recognition and Reduction in Recreation Sites, a document produced in the Rocky Mountain Region, helps manage tree hazards in campgrounds and other facilities. It provides a number of photos and descriptions of common structural defects and their indicators. The entire text will be added to the “Reference Materials” A. S. A. P.

9. Tree Strikes You're Out
This pamphlet, an outgrowth of the National Snag Hazard Task Force of 1993, is an excellent example of a local initiative that involved committees, survey, etc.

10. Industrial Head Protection: Hardhats - The Maintenance, Inspection, Precautions, and Replacement
This is an excellent and detailed 2+-page discussion about the management of hardhats. Upon inspection, some hardhats worn by snag victims reveal cracks and aging that lower the hardhat's ability to protect the wearer.

11. ICS-215A Snag Mitigations from Frye’s Type I Incident Management Team
The following list is a part of a “click and drag” technique developed by Steve Frye’s team to electronically add common mitigations to the division assignment page, ICS-204. The risks are identified in the ICS-215-A risk assessment process. Not all elements are used each time, and additional elements may be added manually, as the situation dictates. This is their complete list.

SNAG MITIGATION
* Identify snags, hazard trees and unstable rocks. (Look up, look down, look around).	* Identify kill zone and inform others. (Flag, describe or post lookouts to keep others out).
* Consider wind and weather.	* Felling of snags and hazard trees will proceed line construction and mop-up.
* Felling by qualified fallers only.	* Secure, eliminate or avoid unstable material on slopes.
* Remember, logs can roll, spin, slide or shift.	* Do not work below other firefighters.
* Rocks can roll, slide or bounce.	* No class B/C felling after dark.
* Establish drop points, rest areas, sleeping and parking areas free of snags.	* Remain alert to noise or movement – it could signal Immediate Danger. Face your danger to decide escape.
* Consider staying out of snag areas after dark.	* Any increase in wind or change in wind direction means danger, stay alert!
* One falling snag may trigger a cascade of snags, now or hours from now – reassess your situation if a snag goes down.	* Broken branches and widow makers from a falling snags may be thrown far from the snag itself, be sure to consider that when doing your assessment

12. Potential Green Tree Hazards (Powerpoint presentation)
This is an excellent slide presentation taken from sources such as the R-6 Long Range Planning for Developed sites, which present a clear introduction to disease and mechanical defects.

13. Hazard Tree and Me
A ten-question quiz is intended as an icebreaker and a tool to generate discussion. Human factors and employee knowledge of the physical characteristics of hazard trees are included with an easy-going style.

14. Hazard Tree Risk Management Process
The Incident Response Pocket Guide opens with a Risk Management Process directed towards fire suppression which adapts the same process to hazard tree/snag issues.

15. Blasting Snags
Pages 105-107 in MTDC's Guide for Using, Storing and Transporting Explosives and Blasting Materials (2000 edition)(0067-2803-MTDC) describes internal, external and topping trees with explosives. For use by fully qualified blasters, it also discusses special considerations, and explosive loads guidelines.

16. Fire Weakened Trees
Todd Wilson assembled a Powerpoint collection of hazard tree slides, largely fro the Northern Rockies. Most, but not all involve fire; however, firefighters encounter all these situations while in the woods.

17. Hazard Trees of the Rocky Mountain Region.
This Powerpoint presentation discusses basic hazard tree indicators and situations for the Rocky Mountain States of Colorado and Wyoming. The 15-slide shows common trees and their defects, often near developed sites.

18. Interactive Study - A Hazard Tree Powerpoint Presentation
This 45 minute Powerpoint slide program leads groups or individuals through a discussion; participants learn to identify indicators or tree structural issues while they decide between three risk levels. In the program, universal principles achieved through the "Up the Ante" Initiative are finding enthusiastic audiences across the U.S. and Canada.

19. Guy's Vacation 2003 - A Cautionary Tale
Travel to Montana 2003, with Alabama Forestry Commission's Safety Officer Guy Slayden. Take a brief walk through a snag victim rescue and see the snag and damaged hardhat.

20. Snag Brochure Master.
This snag brochure master is available to copy and print on card stock. It is the work of the US Forest Service Southeast Region's Snag/Hazardous Tree Awareness Team, with contributions from Plumas Hotshot snag victim Krs Evans.

21. Job Hazard Analysis, 6/30/05

22. Sim Limb/Top Drop aka Falling Tree Top/Limb Simulation Exercise
Utilizing a flag pole, dummy soft limb, and trip line, years of close-call experiences will be compressed to an hour. This exercise will demonstrate the speed limbs, tops, and debris fall from trees and snags. Sim Limb Exercise Video web site.