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When they can’t see the wood for the red tape

In a move which has even the CEO of the Health and Safety Executive scratching his head, BSI British Standards is drafting guidelines proposing that any owner of trees, including businesses with trees on their premises, are made accountable for bi-annual inspections to assess the risk that they pose to members of the public through ‘branch shedding’ and ‘whole tree failure’ – heavy bits falling off them, we guess.

Laughable though this seems to be, several serious commentators are pointing to undesirable consequences – The Forestry Commission are worried that private citizens and organisations alike will be inclined to chop trees down rather than bear the cost of compliance and cite the example of Exeter Cathedral who recently removed an old stand of perfect innocent trees after receiving advice that they were a ‘dangerous’ variety. More opposition comes from the Risk and Regulation Advisory Council, no less, who point to a trend for small risks to become over-regulated through agitation from special-interest groups – tree professionals are the loudest proponents for the scheme and also stand to gain most from any new regulation. And how big is the risk? According to the Economist, kamikaze trees result in six deaths every year in the UK.