Chain Saw Safety Policy

Chain saws can be deadly when the equipment is improper or misused. That’s why OHS laws require employers to implement policies and procedures to ensure safe selection, maintenance and use of chain saws. Here’s a template you can adapt to create a policy at your own workplace.

  1. PURPOSE

ABC Company has adopted this Policy to ensure the safe use of hand and power tools in accordance with [province] Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (“OHS Regulations”), the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“Act”), the ABC Company Occupational Health and Safety Program (“OHS Program”), and other applicable requirements and standards.

  1. POLICY

This Policy is designed to complement the OHS Program and ABC Company training program by setting proper procedures for workers to follow when operating chain saws in industrial and construction settings. This Policy is not intended to address chain saw use in forestry, logging or other operations governed by special requirements contained in OHS or other applicable regulations that are specific to those operations.

  1. GENERAL SAFETY GUIDELINES

3.1 Selection of Chain Saws

Safe design and construction will be primary criteria that ABC Company will consider in selecting chain saws to be used by workers. All such chain saws will:

  • Meet the standards set forth in of CSA Standard Z62.1, Chain Saws [List version your jurisdiction requires:
    • CAN3-Z62.1-M85—Federal, New Brunswick, Quebec
    • CSA Z62.1-95—BC
    • Most recent version of CSA Z62.1-95—Nova Scotia
    • CSA Z62.1-15—Manitoba
    • CSA Z62.1—Newfoundland
    • CSA Z62.1-03—Saskatchewan, Yukon]
  • Be designed or equipped with a safety chain, chain brake and chain catcher or other mechanism that minimizes the risk of injury from a kickback when the saw is in use; and
  • Safe and suitable for their intended use.

3.2 Appropriate Use of Chain Saws

Chain saws may be used only by workers who have successfully completed training in their safe operation and may not be used by any other person or for purposes other than their intended use.

3.3 Keeping Chain Saws in Good Working Condition

Chain saws must be properly inspected, serviced and maintained according to their instruction manual. A chain saw found to be defective or in poor condition poses a safety danger and will be immediately taken out of service.

3.4 Reporting Defects & Damage

When a chain saw is not in safe working condition, workers must identify it as unsafe by marking or locking it out. Once the chain saw has been locked-out, workers must immediately notify a supervisor for proper repair or disposal.

3.5 Storage of Chain Saws

Chain saws must be placed, kept and stored in a safe and secure place to avoid potentially dangerous incidents and away from elevated surfaces where they could fall on somebody or in walkways or other places where they may pose a trip hazard.

  1. SAFE WORK PROCEDURES

Workers may not operate a chain saw while working alone or in isolation. ABC Company will develop, implement, train workers in and ensure workers follow safe work procedures for operating a chain saw that require, among other things, that workers:

  • Stop the motor before carrying a chain saw from one location to another, unless the next location is in the immediate area to which it is safe to move while the chain saw is still on;
  • Adjust the chain and the saw according to the manufacturer’s recommendation so the chain is stopped while the motor is idling;
  • Start the saw when it’s cold by holding it firmly against a solid object below waist level
  • Hold the saw firmly in both hands and stand on a solid, stable base while operating it
  • Move the saw at least 3 m (10 ft.) from where it was refuelled before starting the engine
  • Refuel only from an approved gasoline container with a spout or funnel to minimize spillage
  • Not drop start the saw by pulling on the cord while the other hand engages the throttle mechanism
  • Not operate the saw above shoulder height
  • Not refuel the saw while the engine is operating or it’s near a source of ignition.
  1. PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

5.1 PPE

Workers must wear appropriate PPE when operating a chain saw, including but not necessarily limited to:

  • Safety footwear that meets CSA Z195 or a standard offering equivalent protection, that has chain saw protection on the top and sides and non-slip soles
  • Leg protection that’s of the appropriate size to protect the knee and leg from the top of the safety footwear to the groin, and is made of a minimum of three ply 2108 nylon or a material affording equivalent protection, that is secured in a manner that allows the leg protection to perform its function
  • Suitable eye or face protection to shield the worker from chips, flying debris and other hazards to the eyes and face
  • Protective gloves or other suitable protection against hand hazards and virbration
  • Suitable hearing protection.

5.2   Other Protective Equipment

Workers operating chain saws must also have a pressure bandage and other suitable first aid equipment and, if work is performed during fire season, a readily available and suitable fire extinguisher or round point shovel.

  1. TRAINING AND EDUCATION

All workers required or permitted to operate chain saws will receive instruction and training from a qualified person in the safe and proper inspection, maintenance and use of chain saws and the required protective equipment, as well as the safe work procedures referred to in Section 4 above.