Can’t Say You Weren’t Warned

We have a new hire at the start of our season. He’s one of the worst people I’ve ever worked with. He doesn’t have an entirely awful personality — we get on well and can hold a decent conversation — but his work ethic is poor. He’s always deflecting or making excuses for mistakes, and he doesn’t appear to have much in the way of common sense.

One day, I’m working near him. He has our cordless reciprocating saw out to cut through some tree roots in the way of the trench he’s working on.

He’s in a narrow stance, holding the trigger grip with both hands, manually making a sawing motion while holding the trigger down, and cutting toward himself.

Realizing that this is a worker’s comp claim waiting to happen, I go over and give him a quick refresher. I give him a better stance and grip, showing him to hold it steady and to not cut toward himself. 

Me: “…and always try to cut parallel, never toward yourself. That way, if it kicks or binds, it’s less likely to come up and get you.”

New Hire: “Cool, thanks!”

He immediately went back to exactly how he was doing it before.