Tree Risk Assessment forms

[Barbara Ramsbottom]

Hello,

Would like your opinion on the above.  Do you use any Tree Risk Assessment forms in your line of work?  Our Tree Team (I work for Local Authority) may be looking into starting using tree risk assessment forms when issuing fells to highway trees. We have been asked by members of the public to provide a "report" when they question our decision.  Anyhow, would you say ISA's form is a standard in UK or is there another type of tree risk assessment form that is more frequently used?  Do you use an electronic version?  We use tablets with specialist software when inspecting street and park trees so electronic version would help.  Carrying paper forms would be a total ball-ache.

I have asked our software supplier if they could develop the existing system to incorporate ISA's Tree Risk Assessment Form, but was told there are too many tree risk assessment forms (implied ISA's is not the standard form).

What is your opinion?  What do you use?

Thank you.

 

Regards,

B

PS: Apologies if I'm repeating a subject, but I tried to search the forum for this topic, but gave up the search at posts dated January this year...

[Dan Maynard]

I don't have direct experience but have read quite a few forum posts. VALID tree risk assessment is the one which has come up in the last few months, seems to me that he is trying to solve the problems you are having.

[daltontrees]

2 hours ago, Barbara Ramsbottom said:

Hello,

Would like your opinion on the above.  Do you use any Tree Risk Assessment forms in your line of work?  Our Tree Team (I work for Local Authority) may be looking into starting using tree risk assessment forms when issuing fells to highway trees. We have been asked by members of the public to provide a "report" when they question our decision.  Anyhow, would you say ISA's form is a standard in UK or is there another type of tree risk assessment form that is more frequently used?  Do you use an electronic version?  We use tablets with specialist software when inspecting street and park trees so electronic version would help.  Carrying paper forms would be a total ball-ache.

I have asked our software supplier if they could develop the existing system to incorporate ISA's Tree Risk Assessment Form, but was told there are too many tree risk assessment forms (implied ISA's is not the standard form).

What is your opinion?  What do you use?

Thank you.

 

Regards,

B

PS: Apologies if I'm repeating a subject, but I tried to search the forum for this topic, but gave up the search at posts dated January this year...

I'd say ANY form can be turned into an excel spreadsheet. I have turned all my forms into these or into Pocket GIS survey templates, which of course are output as csv fileds (=xls files). 

 

Maybe it's the climate up here in Scotland, but paper is the last thing I'd use. Tablets run excel or substitute programmes, and are almost disposably cheap. I just did a 1400 tree survey for a Council using a tablet that cost £60.

 

I think it's generally a good thing to record the rationale for decisions, especially as a public body. But htat's maybe not by using a form but by using a system that aids and records objective decisions measurable agianst accepted standards. The ISA system is words based too loose and slushy for me personally. QTRA uses numbers, which I think for roadside risk assessments is more or less ideal. The QTRA manual has a suite of sample survey record forms in it.