|
Both Forestry and Tree Surgery offer a wide range of interesting job opportunities for people who want to work outdoors.
-
What is involved in Tree Surgery and Forestry work?
-
Tree Surgery and Forestry are two completely different industries, but some of the skills required are common to both.
Tree Surgery, or Arboriculture, involves the care of amenity trees, including crown reductions, removal of dead wood, felling, or more frequently, dismantling trees that need to be removed. It is undertaken in a wide variety of venues - in private gardens, on commercial sites, in public parks, along power lines for utility companies, adjacent to railway lines for track safety, etc, etc. Virtually anywhere there is human habitation, there is potentially treework to do.
It is not surprising therefore that there is a very wide range of companies offering services in this sector, from ‘one man bands’ to national organisations. However, they all have one thing in common – every operative has to have been trained and certified as competent to undertake whatever tasks the work involves. The work is often skilled and potentially dangerous, and formal training is compulsory. You must have a ‘ticket’ to work in the industry.
Forestry work, or Silviculture, involves the felling and processing of trees to produce timber. Whether the end use of the timber is for building, fencing or papermaking, somebody has to fell the trees and extract them from the forest. Wood has its others uses too apart from the traditional for example, production of videotapes, glue and washing powder. In the future more and more wood will be converted to fuel for cars, by-products for industry and other materials with completely new properties. So this type of work is becoming increasingly mechanised, with highly expensive tree harvesting machines becoming more commonplace. Work in this industry is clearly limited to the geographical areas where timber is grown commercially, and these are traditionally areas where there is little other outdoor employment. Like tree surgery, the work is skilled and potentially dangerous, and the same Health and Safety legislation applies. All operatives must hold the relevant certificates of competence.
-
What are the job prospects?
-
TREES KEEP GROWING – that is a fact! When they get too big for their position, or fall into ill-health, someone has to reduce or remove them. Britain leads the world in the teaching of arboricultural skills, and this is partly because our high population density means that a lot of houses are built close to trees which are retained for their amenity value. Sooner or later however, the trees just get too big or unsafe, and that usually means that a trained tree surgeon has to climb the tree and skilfully reduce it, or dis-mantle it completely. There are plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes in the South East alone, and very often Planning Authorities will insist on the retention of as many trees on these sites as possible. These will require additional care and attention - it’s all good for business!
Following the very high winds of October 1987, and more recently, there is a much greater awareness of the need to manage trees, either by crown thinning or reduction, to keep them safe. People are also much more interested in caring for our tree heritage, and are prepared to invest in skilled ‘tree care’. The very dry summer of 2003 will also unfortunately create work, because trees stressed by drought will succumb to diseases which they would otherwise have survived, and mortality rates of mature trees will inevitably rise for the next 2 or 3 years.
In recent years, the government has given local authorities the powers to force people to reduce or remove rows of Leylandii which are depriving neighbours of light. There are over 100,000 known disputes in England alone! This is great news for tree surgeons everywhere.
If you want to work in this industry, the first decision you need to make is whether to be self-employed and run your own business, or seek employment with an established company. In many ways, a year or so working for a well-run company is an excellent grounding for becoming self employed, but be careful to choose a good one. If you choose to be employed, there are many ways of finding work – the following list is by no means exhaustive. - Circulate your CV to local tree surgeons (find them in Yellow Pages or from your Local Council).
- Contact the utility companies in your area and find out whether they employ staff directly, and if not, who they sub-contract work out to.
- Contact your Local Authority – they will either employ staff direct or sub-contract to independent companies.
- Look in the press, including National, Local and Trade papers and magazines such as Arb News.
The tree surgery and forestry industries are THRIVING, and show every sign of continuing to do so. They offer a wide range of interesting opportunities for work, particularly for enterprising, well-motivated people who want a healthy outdoor life. I have worked in this sector for over 20 years, and can honestly say that I still get up and look forward to my days work. I hope that you choose your career well, and will be able to say the same thing in 20 years time!
Richard Olley
Registered Instructor No KINA 04
-
What does the training involve?
-
Chainsaw skills are broken down by NPTC into a series of numbered Units. These can be read in the attached list. All candidates must start by achieving Units CS30 (Chainsaw Maintenance and Crosscutting) and CS31 (Felling Trees up to 380mm Diameter). This is typically a 5 day course, with an assessment on day 6. When the candidate has gained these units, he or she can progress to felling larger trees (CS32), or train for the climbing units CS 38 and 39 (Tree Climbing and Rescue, and Using a Chainsaw from Rope and Harness). The climbing courses do require a reasonable level of physical fitness (this should not be a problem for service leavers). A good head for heights is a definite advantage! All these are outdoor, hands-on courses for a maximum of 4 people at a time. There is some theory involved in CS 30 & 31, but mostly you will be felling trees and honing your chainsaw handling skills until you can fell accurately and consistently. On the climbing courses you will spend a lot of time climbing fairly big trees, ‘learning the ropes’ and doing simulated rescues of an injured climber, before learning to handle a chainsaw safely whilst securely anchored into the canopy. We get a lot of positive feedback from candidates who tell us that they are amazed at how much they have learnt, and how confident and competent they feel after a relatively short time. Above all, they tell us how much they have really enjoyed it!
-
What courses are available, and at what cost?
-
The vast majority of Service Leavers, or those seeking intensive re-training opt for Combination Course B, which has been specifically designed to cover the full range of relevant skills, therefore helping someone who has no previous experience to get suitably qualified to work in the arboricultural and forestry industry.
A full list of our individual courses is attached, along with the tuition fees. In addition, we are able to provide the following: - Hire of all the chainsaws, safety clothing and climbing equipment that you require at £10 per day for ground courses, and £20 per day for climbing courses.
- Assessment fees are paid directly to NPTC, and are in the region of £105 per unit.
-
How is the training and certification organised?
-
Initial training must be undertaken by a qualified instructor, and then all candidates have to be independently assessed by the National Proficiency Test Council. All courses offered by Kingswood Training Services are overseen by Lantra, which is a government body that tests instructors (of environmental and land-based industries) and provides quality assurance for the candidate. We will book your assessment for you at the end of your course, and an NPTC assessor will be appointed to examine your competence. We are proud of the fact that our pass rate is currently well over 90%. There are some ancillary courses which do not require independent assessment. These are referred to as ITA courses (Integrated Training and Assessment), and the instructor can issue a certificate of competence if he judges that the candidate has met the skill criteria. These are listed separately from the chainsaw courses, and include Use of Woodchippers, Stumpgrinders, Brushcutters etc.
-
Do you think we are too far away?
-
How long will it take you to get here? The following journey times are calculated by Satnav. | Brighton | 1 hour
| 10 mins
| | Cambridge | 1 hour
| 30 mins
| | Oxford | 1 hour
| 40 mins
| | Southampton | 1 hour
| 50 mins
| | Bath | 2 hours
| 30 mins
| | Brimingham | 2 hours
| 40 mins
| | Nottingham | 3 hours
| 0 mins
| | Sheffield | 3 hours
| 20 mins
| | Exeter | 3 hours
| 40 mins
|
From the above times it can be seen that by staying with us for 6 days (1 week course + assessment), most candidates will be driving the equivalent of less than half an hour per day each way. This saves money, and gives you more time to study and take advantage of the facilities here. Our candidates come from all over the country, because they can travel off peak the evening before the course, and are then rested and ready for an easy 9am course start time.
|
