Pedestrians injured by tree felled adjacent to public footpath
A body responsible for the management of a publicly accessible forest in East Sussex has been fined after two pedestrians using a public footpath were struck by a tree being felled. One of the pedestrians suffered significant injuries.
Inspection prior to removal of the tree – a silver birch of height 12 metres - revealed it required felling due to decay. The specimen was growing in the corner of a car park, adjacent to several public footpaths.
The forest ranger undertaking the felling operation did not notice the pedestrians walking within the ‘drop zone’ until the tree started falling.
Investigation revealed the body responsible for operations within the forest failed to identify the risk to members of the public from tree felling. Precautions including warning signs, barriers and banksmen were not implemented to prevent members of the public from accessing areas where the tree felling was taking place.
The presence of a suitable working distance between operators, machinery, third parties and local infrastructure is critical to the safe undertaking of a felling operation.
The Forestry Industry Safety Accord (FISA) produce a free, downloadable safety guide, intended to share industry agreed safe working practices which should be followed when using a chainsaw to fell and take down trees. Click on the link in the further reading section, below.
Further reading
FISA Safety Guide 302: Basic chainsaw felling and manual takedown