This is the second installment of a two-part article on storm response. “On the Job After Natural Disasters, Part 1,” by John Ball, ran in the May 2025 issue of TCI Magazine.

Natural disasters may place tree workers in unfamiliar territory, working with tree species they are not accustomed to climbing, rigging or felling, which can present unique hazards. Photo courtesy of John Ball.

We often speak of our arboriculture colleagues as buddies. We are the brotherhood – and/or sisterhood – of tree workers. After all, we are an exceedingly small part of the U.S. workforce, a little more than one-tenth of one percent. There is camaraderie forged in the unique experience of arboriculture.

We often hear the phrase, “You are responsible for your own safety.” There is much truth in this statement. You have the greatest stake in your own wellbeing. It is your life, so never relinquish your personal safety to others. But working within the chaotic environment of a natural disaster, it is good to have someone else who has your back. It is not relinquishing your responsibility for personal safety – it is sharing that responsibility.

One effective means of improved safety for workers during natural disasters has been the buddy system. This is a system in which two or more workers share in the responsibility for their collective safety and wellbeing. They operate as a unit, communicating and working together to complete hazardous tasks. They also check in with one another for their mental and physical wellbeing, and are the first to provide emergency assistance.

How it works
The buddy system pairs workers who are performing similar or identical duties – two workers dragging brush and feeding the chipper, as an example. But it also may include workers who perform different tasks for the same arboricultural operation – a climber as well as a ground worker who is tending the rigging lines. The key is that both individuals understand the hazards involved in the operation but also are comfortable with communicating any concerns. Buddies work as a team, not as a leader and a follower.

A buddy is not a boss, supervisor or anyone else involved in evaluating their job performance. Also, the buddy system must pair individuals who trust one another. They must buy in to the arrangement, not just be assigned. If organized and implemented, the buddy system can be a means of reducing incidents.

Storm circumstances
Natural disasters may place tree workers in unfamiliar territory, working with tree species they are not accustomed to climbing, rigging or felling. We all become familiar with the characteristics of the trees we work on and in day by day, but may be unaware of some unique hazards associated with unfamiliar tree species. A buddy can be someone known and trusted, with whom we can talk over the risks in the operation and the means of mitigating the hazards.

The initial response following a natural disaster is saving lives, followed by clearing emergency roads, restoring utilities and clearing hazards and debris. Resources may be stretched thin during the immediate aftermath of the storm, when local responders may be the only ones available. The work also may involve working late into the evening or overnight. The work schedule also may have interruptions or changes. Long and odd hours are the hallmark of the initial disaster response.

Long hours and irregular shifts disrupt the body’s natural cycle. This leads to fatigue, your body’s signal that rest is needed. This becomes acute when workers are subjected to repeated days of 12-hour shifts or longer than 60-hour weeks. The accumulated fatigue may increase injuries by a third. While insufficient and fragmented sleep is a major contributor to the fatigue debt, other factors include physically demanding work, exposure to hazards and unfamiliar work environments and work tasks/operations.

Pros and cons of a buddy system
The buddy system has workers maintaining awareness of behavioral changes that may be associated with working during a natural disaster. Buddies need to be aware when one of them begins showing the initial signs of fatigue – irritability, headaches, lack of concentration, lapses in judgement – and act. This may include involving the supervisor to make changes in the schedule or workload.

There are disadvantages to the buddy system. It may increase costs in situations where two workers performing a task does not necessarily double the work output. The buddy system can lead to a false sense of security if the two workers engaged in unsafe behavior assume the other is OK with the behavior. Two workers engaged in an activity also can mean double the exposure and risk.
But the pros outweigh the cons of the buddy system. Many organizations have adapted the system in their response to disasters. And we do not need a natural disaster to find benefit in a buddy system.

Buddies need to be aware when one of them begins showing the signs of fatigue – irritability, headaches, lack of concentration, lapses in judgement – and act accordingly. TCIA staff photo of a crew with ArborTech Tree Removal Experts of Gilford, New Hampshire.

Using it day to day
The buddy system also can be applied to our day-to-day work. Two of the best applications are for preventing heat stroke and training new workers.
Heat injuries are an increasing hazard to all outdoor workers. We utilize the heat index for gauging the risk of heat injury to outdoor workers. The heat index is a combination of the air temperature and the relative humidity. Humidity affects the body’s ability to shed heat through evaporation. The heat index with an air temperature of 90 F (in the shade) may be categorized as “caution” with a relative humidity of 40%. If the humidity increases to 95%, the heat index at 90 F becomes “extreme danger,” a category where heat stroke is highly likely if a person is engaged in physical activity.

The tree workers who most often suffer heat injuries are the ground workers. Dragging brush and chipping are hot, strenuous jobs. Ground workers have died of heat stroke on 90 F days during or after chipping brush for a couple of hours. The co-workers are unaware of the person’s condition or do not recognize the symptoms of heat stroke – hot, red skin, no sweating – nor are they aware that this is a medical emergency.

Any time the heat index is in the “extreme caution” range, tree companies should consider employing the buddy system, where workers are focused on checking in on a partner to be sure the precursor of heat stroke – heat exhaustion – is not developing. If a worker has wet, cool, clammy skin and they are profusely sweating, that is the time to get them to a cool location and provide water.

A worker may not even be aware they are suffering heat exhaustion. No pain is associated with heat injury, but there is fatigue and impaired judgement. A buddy can recognize these signs sooner than the worker.

Training
There also is value in having a buddy system in place for every new employee. This is a good means of integrating new workers into the crew. The buddy serves as a mentor during the first three months of work. This person provides guidance in safe work practices, as well as technical advice on performing job duties.

Many of our minor injuries – minor in the traumatic, but often high in worker compensation – occur in the first year of work. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), during 2001-2017, about half of the workers’ compensation insurance claims involving eight or more days of lost work were for Landscape Services (the Bureau of Labor Statistics category that includes tree care) workers with less than a year on the job. These were not severe injuries, but rather more the soft-tissue injuries. Overexertion and sprains, along with simple fractures, were common injuries associated with these claims.

Closing thought
The other value to a training buddy system is retention. We face higher turnover than many other industries – at a time when finding replacements is tough and will become even tougher. A new employee with a mentor can be more likely to stay on the job.

John Ball, Ph.D., Board Certified Master Arborist (BCMA), Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP), A-NREMT
(Advanced-National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians), is a professor of forestry at South Dakota State University. He is also a member of TCI Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Committee.