Tree Risk Management and Safety Surveys
We work with clients of all sizes, from a single tree in a residential garden to private estates with tens of thousands of trees and public access. Our expert arboricultural consultants provide cost-effective tree risk management solutions that ensure legal compliance and follow industry best practices.
With extensive experience managing public and private sector estates—including schools, woodlands, rural estates, country parks, golf courses, business parks, and housing developments—we deliver strategies that prioritize safety, sustainability, and long-term tree health.
We operate throughout the Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside & Nationally for tree-related projects of all sizes.
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A Sensible Approach to Tree Risk Management
Landowners have a statutory duty of care to do all that is reasonably practical to ensure that people are not exposed to a risk to their health and safety. This duty can be fulfilled by having a system in place to control the risk from trees.
A tree risk management system comprises of four components:
- A policy that details how the landowner will approach the management of tree related risk
- A zoning plan to inform decision making for tree surveys
- A tree survey to assess the trees and determine the level of risk
- A mitigation plan to reduce any risk to as low as reasonably practicable
This approach is advocated by the Health and Safety Executive under the Plan Do Check Act methodology for effective tree risk management and follow relevant guidance from the National Tree Safety Groups (NTSG)
and
Lantra.
We don’t handle contracting, so we just outline the work that meets your needs.
- When trees need attention, our detailed work specifications meet BS3998:2010 standards, are environmentally mindful, and focus on the minimum required to meet your duty of care.
- Since all pruning causes some harm, doing less is better for both the trees and your budget.
- We work with clients to plan priorities and re-inspection schedules, aiming for realistic goals rather than arbitrary deadlines—ensuring you’re never burdened with more work than you can handle or timelines you can’t meet.
Quantified Tree Risk Assessment (QTRA)
Quantified Tree Risk Assessment (QTRA) is a systematic way to assess tree risk using actual numbers rather than vague terms like “high” or “low” to gauge the likelihood of harm from tree failures. This method helps landowners make fair, balanced decisions about managing their trees.
Once we’ve had an initial chat to figure out the benefits you want from your trees, your main priorities, the resources you have, and your attitude toward risk, the assessment moves forward like this:
1. Identifying the target
- First, we assess what could be harmed. This could be users of the space (e.g., pedestrians, cyclists or drivers & passengers in vehicles) or the property within it. We assign a Target Value based on how frequently an area is used. A quiet woodland path? Low target value. The nearby busy A road? Higher target value.
2. Estimate the size of part likely to fail
- When we consider partial or total tree failure, some failures are more serious than others - a small diameter piece of deadwood is less likely to harm a pedestrian than a whole tree falling over. So where we decide that failure is worth considering, we factor this in as the Impact Potential to account for the tree’s size, weight, and location.
3. Assessing the probability of failure
- Next, we use consider how likely the failure is happen within the next year (taking into account the normal seasonal weather patterns and the increasing liklihood of storms and high winds as a result of climate change) and use a structured scoring system to assign it a probability for use within the final calculation.
4. Calculating the overall risk
Now comes the number crunching! QTRA combines:
- Target Value (who/what is at risk)
- Impact Potential (how severe would the consequences be?)
- Probability of Failure (how likely is failure?)
The result is a numerical risk score, which we compare against thresholds for acceptable risk.
How this helps our clients take care of their trees while cutting costs.
- We work with our clients to set priorities and re-inspection intervals, aiming for realistic timelines that keep workloads manageable and targets achievable.
- We won’t hand over more work than you can handle or impose impossible deadlines just to clear our desk. With QTRA, we can rank each risk so the most serious hazards are dealt with first, rather than giving you a list of trees all marked as equally urgent.
- Costs stay low by inspecting only areas with high enough usage and recording data only for trees that need attention.
- QTRA gives us a solid, evidence-based foundation for managing tree risks, helping to balance public safety, tree conservation, environmental concerns, and legal responsibilities.
FAQ
Can you make sure my trees are safe?
- We shouldn’t think of trees as either safe or unsafe as all trees carry a degree of risk of failure.
- It’s important to remember that compared to many things we do in our lives, trees present a very small chance of harm.
- Recent work commissioned by the National Tree Safety Group (the NTSG) has benchmarked the average individual fatality risk from a falling tree to the UK public for the period 1997 – 2021 at one in 14 million per year. That’s somewhere between death by lightning and being bitten by a shark.
Who is responsible for tree safety?
- Landowners have a legal duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Acts (1957 & 1984) to manage tree risks on their property.
- Local authorities also have responsibilities for trees on public land and highways.
How often should trees be inspected?
The NTSG (National Tree Safety Group) advises a proportionate approach:
- High-use areas (e.g., near roads or footpaths): regular inspections (e.g., every 1-3 years).
- Low-use areas (e.g., woodland or private gardens): less frequent inspections, unless concerns arise.
Can I assess tree risks myself?
- To a degree. The guidance (and case law) suggests that while landowners should remain observant, they should understand the limits of their knowledge and know when to refer an inspection to a professional.
- Ultimately, few people will know their trees as well as their owners or site managers so informal inspections will always form a critical part of tree risk management.
Will pruning help make a tree safer?
- It can do if done correctly and for the right reasons (i.e., to take weight off a damaged union).
- Poor pruning, however, can increase risk by making failure more likely, so it’s best done by a qualified arborist.
Am I liable if a tree on my property causes damage?
- Potentially, yes. Under UK common law, tree owners have a duty of care to others and are responsible for preventing foreseeable harm.
- Regular inspections and maintenance can help demonstrate due diligence and reduce liability.
Will my insurance cover tree-related damage?
- Most UK home insurance policies cover damage caused by falling trees due to storms or unforeseen circumstances.
- However, insurers may not cover damage if the tree was known to be in poor condition and left unmanaged.
How much does a tree risk assessment cost?
- Costs vary depending on the number of trees, their location, and the level of assessment required.
- Using QTRA we can often rule out entire areas of trees from needing inspection due to usage of an area or the size of the trees so we often find that the final costs can be lower than other approaches.
How do I get a free no obligation quotation?
That’s simple!
Get in touch to discuss your tree risk management needs
By transferring the burden of responsibility to us, our clients enjoy peace of mind, knowing that tree safety on their property is being managed appropriately.