What is a Tree Work Safety Checklist?
A tree work safety checklist is a tool for helping arborists and other people conduct work at heights with trees and other tall plants. It helps ensure workers are using the right safety gear, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and other assistive tools, as well as following the proper safety procedures for different types of activities and situations.
Importance
Working with trees and managing them is an essential part of ensuring worker safety and bystander safety in construction sites, electrical sites, and other repair work sites, all while keeping trees in good condition and mitigating damage to the environment and humankind as a whole. However, it is also a type of work that comes with many risks, such as:
- fallen branches that can cause physical harm;
- exposure to storms, lightning, extreme heat, and strong winds;
- electrocutions from hanging electrical wires;
- fire hazards from trees or nearby; and
- falling from high places.
To keep track of the hazards of your arborists and other employees working with trees, having a checklist can be very helpful. With the right tree work safety checklist, you can easily identify and mitigate these risks early on. Should you or your workers encounter these hazards on the job, you can also use a tree work safety checklist to report them and create the necessary actions for them.
What to Include in a Tree Work Safety Checklist
A tree work safety checklist often has fields for the following:
- The type of tree work to be done
- General safety precautions to do or follow
- Usage of the right PPE
- Usage of the necessary fall protection equipment based on the task to be done
- Usage of ladders
- Usage of the proper power and hand tools
- Proper fire prevention and first aid practices to follow in case of emergency
- Usage of wood chippers, bucket trucks, and cranes if necessary
Here is a sample tree work safety checklist for your reference:
FAQs about Tree Work Safety Checklists
It is often the employer’s duty to create and manage tree work safety checklists. Depending on the country or local government, there are already set guidelines on how to create one. Some countries with dedicated laws and guidelines related to tree work are:
Common tree work tasks include the following:
- Trimming and pruning leaves and branches
- Cutting down trees
- Thinning trees
In some cases, arborists are also involved in managing electrical lines but with supervision or assistance from professional electricians.
Electricians, cleaners, construction workers, and their employers also use tree work safety checklists. Although their main jobs do not involve trees, in some cases, they work in areas that call for tree work if necessary. Arborists’ employers may also use a tree work safety checklist to ensure their staff are safe at all times and on the same page as them.
