During the work practical on the TAFE campus I worked in a group of three people to feed pruned branches of allocasuarinas removed from garden beds through a mulcher. Pre-safety check of machine included checking fuel, oil and air filter and removing any stuck debris prior to starting. One person collected cuttings of similar size, bundled them and handed them to the other person who was feeding them into the funnel of the mulcher. A good tip was to never use a pair of sequateurs near the inlet as they could drop into the mulcher. The third person was on the other end, sweeping the mulch away and collecting it into a wheelbarrow. We found that we needed to feed the pile a second time to get a good sized mulch. The machine was washed down after a couple hours after it had cooled down properly.
OH&S issues :
Eye injury from flying wooden debris, dropping hand tools into mulcher damaging the tool and the machine blades, hearing damage from exposure to loud noise all highly likely to occur and of high potential impact. Other issues include exposure to dust and sun.
P.P.E. used :
To address these risks, we were required to wear protective goggles, helmets fitted with mesh masks and ear muffs, as well as gauntlets to protect hands and arms during handling and feeding of the prunings and cuttings. We also wore full sleeve shirts and long pants with steel cap boots and high visibility vests.
Environmental Practises :
This was a reasonable way of recycling green waste back to the garden although it does require the burning of fossil fuels. The machine we used was inefficient and created alot of noise pollution.
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