The town has removed many hazardous trees this year. Unfortunately, while cutting down one on Lovers Lane in July, a member of the Public Works Department suffered a broken ankle and OSHA has directed the town to take a six-week course in safety training.
“It was purely an accident,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. “The tree kicked back, and a branch hit his ankle. But Connecticut OSHA investigated and found that we need to do safety training.”
The Training and Technical Assistance Center at UConn is conducting the classes at the town’s garage during working hours. Riiska has set up a chainsaw safety and stormwater cleanup class for November 6, with one on work zone safety on Nov. 24.
Winsted and New Hartford want to participate in the classes and will pay $100 for each of their workers who attend. Riiska has also invited other towns in the Northwest Hills Council of Governments to join in. Each class costs the town about $2,000.
“We can’t look at it as a reprimand,” Riiska said. “We just have to bite the bullet to keep meeting all the criteria.”
The town previously had classes for flagging and snow plowing, but three out of the five current town workers were hired since the classes were offered, making it necessary to offer them again to keep the crew apprised of safety procedures.