HSE and the tree industry

What legislation?

HSE is responsible for a significant amount of primary legislation (Acts of Parliament, such as the HSWA) and 'relevant statutory provisions', ie 'regulations' such as those on Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) and Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment (LOLER).

Guidance on how to comply with regulations is given in relevant Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP). These give practical advice on how to comply with the law. If you follow the advice you will be doing enough to comply with the law in respect of those specific matters on which the Code gives advice. You may use alternative methods to those set out in an ACOP in order to comply with the law. However, ACOPs have a special legal status. If you are prosecuted for breach of health and safety law and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the Code, you will need to show that you have complied with the law in some other way or a court will find you at fault.

The Regulations and ACOPs are accompanied by guidance which does not form part of the ACOP. Again, following the guidance is not compulsory and you are free to take other action, but if you do follow relevant guidance you will normally be able to demonstrate that you are doing enough to comply with the law. Inspectors may also refer to industry guidance such as the AA's Code to Good Climbing practice and AFAG leaflets as these illustrate good practice.

How we communicate with the tree work industry

HSE's main route of liaison with the tree work industry is through the Arboriculture and Forestry Advisory Group (AFAG), a key working group of the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC).

The Role of the Arboriculture and Forestry Advisory Group (AFAG)

AFAG provides authoritative guidance widely accepted as describing good industry practice, in GB and internationally. AFAG leaflets replaced the now defunct FASTCo (Forestry and Arboriculture Safety Training Council) guidance and are used as a standard for training and assessment of competence, assessing risks, establishing safe systems of work and management and monitoring of work activities on-site. They are used throughout the tree work sector and other industries where relevant equipment is used. As such, it is also used frequently in both civil litigation and criminal prosecutions to demonstrate acceptable standards within the industry and to regulators.

Importantly, AFAG is the route through which those carrying out this type of work and involved in the industry can influence HSE's policies and published guidance. Current members include representatives from professional and trade bodies such as the Arboricultural Association (AA), the Utility Arb Group (UAG), International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA), the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH - Rural Industries Group); and major employers including the Forestry Commission (FC) and others involved in utility and general arb work; training and skills organisations (City and Guilds NPTC, Lantra Awards and Lantra Sector Skills Council (SSC)); Local Government Employers (LGE) and the National Association of Tree Officers (NATO); trades unions, machinery manufacturer's/importers and Northern Ireland's Forest Service.

AFAG meets twice a year and a number of project groups have been set up to tackle specific issues including:

  • Training and Certification (including discussions on a Register for Treework Operatives, and mapping training and competencies across Europe).
  • Reducing accidents involving chain saws.
  • Improving management of work at height, including implementation of the Work at Height Regulations.
  • Rigging and dismantling techniques in arboriculture.
  • Machine-assisted takedown of (hung-up edge) trees.
  • Chainsaw PPE - to improve and promote standards and related issues.
  • Market surveillance (product design).
  • Treework near Overhead Power Lines.
  • Promotion of occupational health provision and rehabilitation services.
  • Musculoskeletal disorders.
  • Reduce operator exposure to noise, hand-arm and whole body vibration.
  • Production, review and maintenance of AFAG, HSE and industry guidance.
  • Improving communications at forestry sites (incl lone working).

Progress on these working groups is reported back to each main AFAG meeting and the AIAC.

How the treework industry can help

As well as via the formal route of AFAG, HSE staff in the Agriculture and Food Sector are in regular contact with key industry stakeholders and individuals in the industry. This is essential to ensure that we know what the industry's concerns are regarding health and safety issues and for us to be able to pass essential information back to the industry. If you have any health and safety queries that you would like to raise with HSE's Agriculture and Food Sector please e-mail [email protected]

Further advice/information

HSE publishes a great deal of information relevant to the tree work industry. You will all be familiar with the key good practice guidance contained in the series of AFAG leaflets which are available from HSE's treework website.

General advice is also available in the series of Agriculture Information Sheets (AIS). Relevant topics include wood chippers and the application of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) to forestry and arboriculture.

Advice provided for HSE and LA inspectors eg Sector Information Minutes (SIMs) may also be relevant, such as SIM 01/07/05 Managing the risk from falling trees.

HSE has also funded several research projects relevant to the tree work industry, often in conjunction with the Forestry Commission. These include:

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2026-08-26