Managing the risk of those tree dangers
As the leaves begin to change colour the public’s imagination is captured by the trees that inhabit the countryside.
While some may enjoy heading out for a stroll over a crisp carpet of leaves, landowners ought to be taking a walk to ensure those same trees will not pose an increased liability over the coming months.
The National Tree Safety Group produce a document entitled Common Sense Risk Management of Trees which serves as a guide for managing the risk posed by trees on your property.
Below I have summarised three points from the document which may apply to your circumstances. As with all risk management, it is important to only rely on specific advice for your circumstances, there cannot be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to such matters.
Zoning: The NTSG points to zoning as a useful management aid for land owners. This sees areas categorised according to the amount of access. Examples of higher risk areas would be those adjacent to roads, or areas which receive high numbers of visitors. It is worth noting that the Occupiers Liability Acts (1957 and 1984) place a duty of care on landowners to some extent for both ‘legal’ and ‘non-legal’ visitors (for example, trespassers). If you are aware of informal footpaths and other non-permissive access to your land this should be taken into account.
Inspections: The NTSG lists three ‘types’ of inspections which may be necessary (formal, informal, and detailed). Whatever regime you put it in place it is crucial that this is informed by your own specific circumstances and that it is recorded so that you can prove what action has been taken to manage the risk posed by trees on your property.
Informal observations: Finally, anyone working on your property should be aware of the need to ‘keep a weather eye’ on trees. What the NTSG describes as ‘informal inspections’ can be made by anyone with good local knowledge. This could cover a range of people from farm employees to landowners and forestry consultants. It is worth reminding all those involved of this common responsibility. It may seem like common sense but an awareness of these issues could flag up problems before they develop into anything serious.
Though it can seem that the administrative burden imposed by health and safety knows no limits, this is an active area of enforcement following incidents and, once implemented, an inspection regime quickly becomes part of the day to day risk management common to all rural businesses.
Jack Cooper is an assistant land agent with Balfours
