Industries have long used safety practices that attempt to control workers’ behavior, then punish them when there is a failure. These safety practices are based on a view of the world that is ordered and predictable. Traditional safety spends a lot of effort looking backward, counting, and analyzing incidents, and is defined by the actions to avoid.
The fact is, compared with jobs in factories and many other environments, there is little a tree worker has control over. The level of variability is extraordinary. Workers climb trees with a chainsaw on their belts or manipulate the buckets of lift trucks to reach the tops of trees, removing limbs within several feet of live power lines. They work in the rain, snow, heat, and cold. Every tree is different, and many have hidden traps. Emergent risks, surprise, and uncertainty are common. At Lewis, we learn from all the good work – the normal day-to-day work – that we perform. We believe there are valuable lessons in all the miles we cover, all the trees we take down, and all the days we work successfully: all the Jobs Done Right®.