Arboriculture: Advanced Tree Surgery and Felling Techniques

Dear Reader

It goes without saying that climbing trees with a chainsaw is a dangerous occupation and not one for the faint-hearted. By law chainsaw operators must have received adequate training relevant to the type of work they undertake.

In this issue of Growing Skills we look into the highly skilled field of tree climbing and the associated safety issues. We hope you find this October newsletter useful, if you know of anyone else that may benefit from receiving this information simply click on the button above to forward it to them.

Best wishes

James

Arboriculture: Advanced Tree Surgery and Felling Techniques

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimate the odds of someone in forestry or arboriculture sustaining a fatal or major injury in any one year to be worse than 1:20. It is therefore hardly surprising that the Aboricultural Association has recently highlighted tree safety management as a main topic of interest. They have urged tree professionals to review the roles, skills and job responsibilities required for people in their employ who climb trees for thinning, felling, preservation and maintenance purposes.

In the past 12 months the LANTRA Sector Skills Council has worked in partnership with the Aboricultural Association and other relevant industry bodies on an extensive review of the National Occupational Standards in this field.

Whether you work in the rural sector, estate management or the maintenance of public spaces one thing is clear: working in trees with chainsaws has the potential to cause horrific injury and therefore you have a legal obligation to ensure your staff have received specialist training and you have in place a planned and disciplined approach to any work undertaken in this field. Not just for the safety of those working in trees but also to reduce the risk to the public and maintain your reputation in a competitive market.

Rural Skills Courses

At the Rural Skills Centre we offer both the NPTC CS38 (Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue) and CS39 (Use of a Chainsaw from a Rope and Harness) courses (With Lantra Awards Training).

Participants will learn all the practical skills required by this specialist field including:

• Equipment selection and maintenance
• Their legal obligations
• Tree safety inspections and risk assessments
• Climbing techniques: ropes, knots, choice of anchor points, moving around a canopy, branch walking etc.
• Using a chainsaw safely in a tree
• Aerial rescue and first aid

Upcoming Course Information

We have availability on the following courses:

• NPTC CS38 Tree Climbing & Aerial Rescue - 17^th to 21^st October
• BASIS Nutrient Management - 18^th to 22^nd October
• Dry Stone Walling - Introduction - 8^th October
• Rough Terrain Telescopic - 19^th & 20^th October
• PA1 Safe Use of Pesticides - 26^th October
• Tractors, Introduction - 27^th & 28^th October
• Lantra Tractors, Operation and Machine Handling - 13^th & 14^th October
• Introduction to Welding - 4^th October for 5 consecutive Tuesday evenings.