{"id":434,"date":"2011-08-26T17:36:59","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T17:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mema\/?p=434"},"modified":"2011-08-26T17:36:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-26T17:36:59","slug":"use-chain-saws-with-respect-and-caution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/2011\/08\/26\/use-chain-saws-with-respect-and-caution\/","title":{"rendered":"USE CHAIN SAWS WITH RESPECT AND CAUTION"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>REISTERSTOWN, Md. (August 26, 2011)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 With Hurricane Irene promising to bring high winds and more rain to already saturated ground throughout Maryland, trees are certain to come down &#8212; and homeowners may think about using chain saws to break up the debris.<\/p>\n<p>Think again and think carefully.<\/p>\n<p>Chain saws can quickly cause severe injury or even death if not used properly. If you are not familiar with chain-saw techniques, saw maintenance and operation, be sure to \u2013 at minimum \u2013 read the owners manual completely and carefully and consult an expert for a demonstration. Other tips to follow to ensure safe use of chain saws:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Consult with a dealer to get the right size saw for the woodcutting you will be doing. Then get him or her to demonstrate the saw.<\/li>\n<li>Use the fuel mix recommended by the manufacturer. Never fuel the saw near debris or when the saw is hot.<\/li>\n<li>Sharpen the saw regularly and maintain proper chain saw tension. A loose chain can come off the guide bar and hit the operator.<\/li>\n<li>Wear proper protective clothing, including safety goggles, hardhat, trim-fitting clothes (not loose or ragged), long-sleeve shirt and pants, gloves, and safety shoes.<\/li>\n<li>Never operate a chain saw when you are tired or using alcohol or drugs. Take frequent breaks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve surveyed the job and planned the task:<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Work with both hands on the chain saw handles.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep your eyes on both the blade and what you are cutting.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cut only on the right side of your body.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do not overreach or cut above shoulder height.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cut only with the lower edge of the blade\u2014cutting with the tip is inviting injury.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beware of cutting limbs and branches that are bent. They may snap back and hit you.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never force a dull chain to cut.<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Remember: Chain saws are made to cut wood\u2014only wood.<\/p>\n<p>More chain saw safety information can be found on the web site for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at:<a href=\"http:\/\/emergency.cdc.gov\/disasters\/psa\/chainsaw.asp\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/emergency.cdc.gov\/disasters\/psa\/chainsaw.asp<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>REISTERSTOWN, Md. (August 26, 2011)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 With Hurricane Irene promising to bring high winds and more rain to already saturated ground throughout Maryland, trees are certain to come down &#8212; and homeowners may think about using chain saws to break up the debris. Think again and think carefully. Chain saws can quickly cause severe injury or<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/2011\/08\/26\/use-chain-saws-with-respect-and-caution\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,49,143],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cdc","tag-chainsaw","tag-hurricane"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mdem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}