Courses still closed

The snow is still lying here on the Links. The Jubilee being closest to the sea, has the least amount of snow coverage, but the greens continue to have a covering of the white stuff.

Training on machinery set up continued, with the guys oil changing all the pedestrian mowers, scarifiers and strimmers.

We tested the vibration levels of our chainsaws today, and found them to have a high vector sum, which results in a reduced usage time. Typically, a 4 hour continuous session with the chainsaw will result in a points total of over 500. This is over the maximum allowed exposure to HAV. My risk assessment for chainsaw use expects the operator to rest for the same amount of time that the machine is used, this "scaling factor of 0.5" allows the operator to nearly use the chainsaw all day. We also swap the operators after 4 hours to minimise vibration levels.

Over the past month we have measured a number of machines for vibration. The most unusual has been the turf iron with 3hours continuous use giving levels over 100 points (1st action level).
Expected high levels have come from the turfcutter, flymo's and strimmers. We hope to have all the vibration measurements carried out before the legislation comes into force this year.

Elsewhere on the courses, we cut some more gorse from heather beds on the New and continued with the composting work at BBQ hill.