Hands on – tree surgery

Tree surgery, or arboriculture, involves the care and maintenance of trees during their life, and their careful dismantling and removal when they become diseased or dangerous. It is undertaken in such venues as private gardens, parks, golf courses, estates and commercial sites. There is also a huge amount of treework contracted out by the utility companies, particularly close to railways and power lines. Virtually anywhere there is human habitation, there is treework to be done.

Not surprisingly a very wide range of companies offer services in this sector, from one-man bands to national organisations. However, they all have one thing in common – every operative must be trained and certified in the tasks they undertake. The work is usually skilled and potentially dangerous, so training and formal assessment is compulsory. Anyone working in the industry must have the relevant Certificates of Competence from the National Proficiency Test Council. These are mostly NVQ Level 2 courses which take several weeks to complete.

It is an expanding industry whose operatives are becoming increasingly professional. Specific health & safety legislation, such as Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations and The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, has significantly raised safety standards. Training is very expensive for employers, both in course costs and downtime, so employees who already have the relevant certification are always in demand.

Tree surgeons need to be fit, reasonably agile and have a good head for heights. They also need to have a responsible attitude to health & safety and to be able to work in a team. Their daily work will often include abseiling with a chainsaw, so concentration and self-discipline are essential. Dismantling large trees can be a technical operation, so leadership, communication and practical skills all come into play. The work also involves specialised machinery on the ground such as woodchippers for disposing of branches and stumpgrinders for extracting tree stumps. Such equipment is potentially dangerous, and operatives have to be trained to use them safely.

Trees keep on growing, and when they become too big for their position, or suffer from ill-health, someone has to reduce or remove them. Britain leads the world in the teaching of arboricultural skills, and this is partly because our high population density means that a lot of houses are built close to trees which are retained for their environmental value. Sooner or later, however, most trees become too big or unsafe, and that usually means that a trained tree surgeon has to climb the tree and skilfully reduce it, or dismantle it completely. There are plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes in England’s south-east, and planning authorities will often insist on the retention of as many trees on these sites as possible. These will all require additional care and attention in the years ahead.

Following the very high winds of October 1987, and more recent gales, there is a much greater awareness of the need to manage trees and keep them safe, either by crown thinning or reduction. People are also much more interested in caring for tree heritage, and will invest in skilled tree-care. Last year’s very dry summer will also create work, because trees stressed by drought will succumb to diseases which they would otherwise have survived, and mortality rates of mature trees will rise over the next two or three years.

The tree surgery industry is thriving, and shows every sign of continuing to do so. Operatives can choose whether to be self-employed or be part of a larger organisation. Either way, tree surgery offers plenty of interesting opportunities for work, particularly for enterprising, well-motivated people who enjoy a healthy outdoor life.