Bermuda’s soldiers have sharpened their skills for post-hurricane operations with internationally recognised qualifications in chainsaw maintenance and use.

Members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment, working over two weeks with British-based Kingswood Training, also picked up methods of dealing with windblown trees.

The cross-government programme was led by the RBR and included crews from the Ministry of Public Works as well as participants from the Department of Workforce Development.

It provided an opportunity to recertify qualified chainsaw operators, as well as training newcomers.

Steve Cackett, an instructor with tree surgery training provider Kingswood, said: “They learn about health and safety, PPE, risk-assessing — then we move into safety features of the saw and maintenance of individual components.”

Matt Moss, a fellow Kingswood trainer, added: “We talk about how they have been provided with a piece of kit, so they need to know how to spot any defects and take it out of action if needed, because it is quite a dangerous piece of machinery.”

The participants learnt chainsaw use, including pre-start checks, correct stance and position, as well as determining cutting techniques for different types of wood.

Training on specific windblown trees training is valuable for soldiers because hurricane relief work, a key responsibility of the RBR, typically means dealing with trees brought down by a storm, rather than felling trees.

Instructors tailored the tuition to cover challenges specific to Bermuda, such as dense undergrowth and Casuarina trees, which can prove tough to tackle.

Upon completion of assessments, soldiers were City & Guilds-certified in chainsaw maintenance, cutting and individual windblown trees competence.

Private Nikholas Roach, who is in the RBR’s A Company, which supports B Company’s disaster-relief work, said: “This course definitely opened my eyes to a new kind of skill.

“Coming from the infantry side, you don’t always get to see these technical things.

“I’ve been in the Coastguard before, which meant I was learning how to work with boats.

“Now I’ve learnt how to use another kind of machine, so this widened my knowledge.”

The 24-year-old, from Paget, added: “Seeing other people use a chainsaw, you think it’s a big, scary, loud machine, you must be super technical to use it, but this course walked us through the steps.

“It’s just like any other thing: apply the normal safety precautions, maintain it. Now that I’ve learnt how to use it, I definitely feel a whole lot more comfortable.”