Coconut Safety Engineer: Knock out the coconuts

Many tropical resorts have a problem of coconuts falling from palm trees and hitting tourists who happen to be strolling around. To solve this problem they employ coconut safety engineers.

So what exactly is a coconut safety engineer? You heard chemical engineer, mechanical engineer and all sorts of engineers before but a coconut engineer? A coconut need to be engineered? Well no, it’s not the coconut that needs a safety; it’s the people who are happened to be below the palm tree who might get injured if any ripe coconut may fall on their heads without any warning. Tropical resorts hire coconut safety engineers who are responsible for picking ripe coconuts from the trees before they are able to fall and injure a passing tourist.

Shaka, the engineer at the Ritz- Carlton, St. Thomas, isn’t just putting on a show when he shimmies up the resort’s palm trees, which tower from 20 to 60 feet high. A few studies have found that falling coconuts, can inflict massive head injuries, or even kill people beneath them. While some resorts at least post signs warning guests not to sit under the trees, the Ritz-Carlton isn’t taking any chances. Shaka climbs and picks ripened coconuts before they get the chance to fall.

Some of the ripe coconut can reach over 3 pounds in weight which if fall on anyone’s head, can do serious injuries.

This profession is only available in tropical paradises like the Virgin Islands or Florida, but luckily it requires very little training or special skills other than the ability to swing a big stick or to climb up the coconut tree. The job of a coconut safety engineer is to go around to private properties like hotels and resorts and whack their coconut trees until all potentially dangerous nuts fall down. These coconut safety engineers have to shimmy up the tall tree trunks and dislodge the potentially dangerous fruit. Some of the ripe coconut can reach over 3 pounds in weight which if fall on anyone’s
head, can do serious injuries. In spite of sounded like a joke, this job of coconut safety engineer is very important for an exotic resort owner since it might save him from any unnecessary lawsuits. In fact, a falling coconut can do significant damage or even be fatal, the job might not pay that much, and there is no word if a CSE can keep the coconuts he knocks down, but it is a job which concerns itself with the public’s safety, making it quite noble and well worth the effort.

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