OPEN Lantra Chainsaw Maintenance, Cross Cutting and Felling up to 380mm Refresher course

• Those wishing to comply with HSE recommendations
• Those who are frequent users and have the NPTC City & Guilds Level 2 or 3 Awards in Felling and Processing Trees up to or over 380mm  (or equivalent) which was taken more than 5 years ago
• Those who are occasional users and have the NPTC Level 2 Award in Felliing and Processing Trees up to or over 380mm (or equivalent) which was taken more than 3 years ago
• Those who are frequent users and have the City & Guilds NPTC Level 2 Award in Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting (or equivalent) which was taken more than 5 years ago
• Those who are occasional users and have the City & Guilds NPTC 2 Award in Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting (or equivalent) which was taken more than 3 years ago

• State and identify the necessary personal protective equipment required, report on its condition and locate the various standard marks
• State and identify the required health and safety features on a chainsaw
• Identify faults and defects on a chainsaw and cutting equipment, decide those fixable by the operator and those which need a service engineer’s attention
• Select and identify the correct tools to enable maintenance to be carried out
• Prepare the chainsaw for use with the correct fuel/oil mix and chain lubrication
• Start the chainsaw in a safe manner
• Carry out pre-cutting safety tests and note the procedures if these are failed
• State the possible hazards when using the chainsaw
• Cross cut timber to appropriate lengths
• Assess and explain the terms ‘tension’ and ‘compression’ in timber
• Adopt safe procedures to remove a trapped guide bar
• Stack and handle timber in a safe manner
• Organise site safety and state the precautions required

Up to 380mm

• Correctly assess the situation prior to free felling a straight open grown tree up to a maximum of 380mm diameter, with the aid of wedges and/or a felling leaver and enable the tree to fall in a chosen direction
• Remove limbs from a felled tree and cross cut, handle and stack timber in a safe and efficient manner
• Identify types of timber, potential hazards and stresses, correctly assess if timber is in compression or tension and select the appropriate technique to deal with the particular situation
• Take down hung up trees using hand tools
• Recognise situations where specialist help is required