Risk Assessment of Trees – Why You Need To Do It

Managing the risk from trees is the responsibility of the owners and managers of the land on which they grow. Access to trees should be balanced between their great amenity value and the very small risk of potential injury.

It is often difficult for tree owners and managers to determine with any clarity what is expected of them in meeting their moral and legal responsibilities regarding trees on their property. Their concerns about the possible legal and financial consequences, plus the possible risk of injury or loss of life, associated with the safety of trees on their property needs to be addressed in a professional manner.

There are a number of principles to bear in mind when discussing the subject of the risks associated with trees, of which the following are fundamental:

  • The owners have a legal duty of care
  • Trees are living organisms that naturally lose branches or fail
  • The overall risk to human safety is extremely low
  • Trees provide a wide variety of benefits to society

The management of risk, when properly organised, enables an organisation to:

  • increase the likelihood of achieving its objectives
  • identify and control the risk
  • comply with relevant legal and regulatory requirements
  • improve stakeholder confidence and trust

Tree Risk Management Principles

Trees form part of the overall landscape and their presence has many different benefits depending on how the land is used. Not all trees are managed and, even for those that are, such management forms a component of overall land management. Human safety is one part of that management.

It is important to recognise, therefore, that risk management can be undertaken only by understanding the trees and their value to people in the context within which they grow. This context naturally includes their distribution in relation to the population that might be harmed. The requirement under health and safety legislation is to have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and to apply measures that are reasonable and practicable. You can find a good overview of the potential issues relating to trees and buildings here.

The overall risk to human safety is extremely low

Research by the Centre for Decision Analysis and Risk Management in the UK demonstrates that the overall risk to the public from falling trees is extremely low, representing about a one in 10 million chance of an individual being killed by a falling tree (or part of a tree) in any given year

The research also shows that there is limited societal concern about risks of this type (although there may be adverse publicity in the immediate aftermath of an individual incident).

The analysis indicated that it would be unlikely that adjustments to the current overall management regime would reduce the risk to health and safety in any significant way.

For some background information on how you may be impacted by neighbour’s trees, click here.