It is widely recognised that it is beneficial to plant trees. Trees have many social benefits, can enhance the amenity and cultural value of a location and even contribute to a cleaner environment through oxygen production and by trapping airborne pollutants.

However, as large and dynamic living objects, trees can present serious risks to persons and property if they are not appropriate for their location or if they grow in a manner that makes them a fire risk, interfere with utility services or cause damage to buildings and footpaths. Additionally, a tree that is not adequately maintained or monitored could very suddenly and without warning, cause a critical incident by shedding a branch, cracking or becoming unstable and falling over.

The recent death of a young woman at a music festival is a sombre reminder of this inherent risk posed by trees.

The incident and its history

A 21-year-old studying at Australian National University was assisting with the set-up of the Lost Paradise music festival at Glenworth Valley on the NSW Central Coast.

While taking a break from her work, the young woman sat beneath a gum tree, when a 4 metre branch snapped off the tree and knocked her unconscious. She was taken to Westmead Hospital, but later died.

While the rest of the festival passed without further incident, a report on the tragic death is being prepared for the coroner.

For schools, this incident should spark memories of a very similar occurrence in 2014 in the historic suburb of Pitt Town. An 8-year-old girl was killed when a 90-year-old forest red gum in the school playground suddenly cracked, causing a 7 metre branch to fall on her.

At the time, School Governance reported that the tragedy sparked calls for regular tree inspections to be conducted on tree health in NSW. However, an inquest into the incident in 2015 revealed that the school may have been warned about the tree, and even the specific branch in question, just 4 months prior.

These events have striking similarities, not merely because both the trees involved were gums. They were both labelled as unexpected accidents in the first instance and allegedly occurred suddenly and without warning.

Fortunately, deaths on school grounds involving trees are few and far between. However, that does not mean that serious injury is not reasonably foreseeable, particularly when there has been bad weather, extreme temperatures or the tree is particularly old.

Trees and the law

While one would expect the vast majority of laws regarding large vegetation to be based on personal injury and civil liability, in reality the most complex legal area relates to their protection from harm and damage while on private land.

Australian tree protection laws are generally categorised by the tree’s location, whether it is an indigenous/native species, whether it has heritage value and a variety of other characteristics including height, amenity and canopy size.

While there are some protections at the Commonwealth level through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), most prescriptive requirements occur at the state/territory level. Only two jurisdictions, being the ACT and SA, have specific legislation which provides general protection to certain native and non-native trees. The most comprehensive of the two is the ACT, which has its own 100-page specific Tree Protection Act 2005 (ACT).

Other jurisdictions delegate responsibility to local government to create tree registers, lists, by-laws or local planning instruments to specifically provide for tree protection. A number of these jurisdictions also allow for certain ‘pruning’ of these trees without approval. In SA, pruning is permissible when it removes no more than 30% of the crown and is for the purpose of removing dead, diseased or unsafe tree parts. In the ACT, minor pruning is permissible if it is conducted with AS 4373-2007 Pruning of amenity trees (the Pruning Standard), and which doesn’t involve lopping and pollarding.

If all this law and tree removal jargon sounds complex, then consider how complicated it becomes for a single system school which may be located in or across multiple local government or even state areas.

The complexity of these laws and the tragedy of the incidents discussed above show a clear need for schools to implement comprehensive and legally compliant tree management procedures in order to preserve the safety of students.

Tree Management?

A school confused about the content of effective tree management should take its cues from the procedures implemented by local council authorities, which include the following:

1.        Have a Tree Register

While legislation only mandates the monitoring of significant or heritage trees, a school endeavouring to maximise safety should have a register for all the trees on its premises for which it has responsibility, including a site map of their location.

This is to ensure there is a centralised location for the age and health of all trees, their risk ratings and any previously recorded injury or damage caused. The register should be regularly updated to take account of changes in the health and condition of trees.

2.       Regularly conduct inspections and assessments of all trees

While the frequency of inspections should be determined by the location of trees and potential risk, varying anywhere between 6 months to 5 years, the majority of safety inspections are carried out on an annual basis.

To meet its duty of care obligations, a school should also consider carrying out inspections whenever they become aware of new risk factors (such as evidence of tree decline), after a significant external event (such as a large storm or a fire) and if the tree is involved in an incident.

3.       Implement Tree Management Plans

In many instances, it may not be possible to simply remove a tree which is considered to be a safety risk and local laws may require persons responsible for certain significant trees to maintain their condition. The best solution would be to implement a plan for each tree which clearly requires management.

Procedures would need to be tailored to each individual tree and could include schedules for ongoing maintenance, erecting barriers to prevent access or procedures for Crown maintenance and general pruning.

The Australian Standard on Pruning

As accidents can still occur during tree pruning without proper care being taken, the best practice approach for schools would be to follow the Pruning Standard in its implementation of Tree Management procedures.

Under the Pruning Standard, any inspection, assessment or specification for pruning should only be carried out by a qualified arborist. A requirement for qualifications or equivalent experience extends to any worker engaged to perform maintenance work on a tree. The qualification level required will depend on the complexity of the work being undertaken, with root pruning requiring the highest at a minimum AQF Level 4 in arboriculture.

In the incident at the Pitt Town school previously outlined, an arborist had allegedly been asked to inspect the tree in question and had even recommended the 7 metre branch be removed for safety.

What should schools do?

By implementing tree management procedures, engaging an arborist to perform any specialised work and following any recommendations or reports they produce during assessment or inspection, a school will be going a long way towards meeting any duty of care obligations to students to protect them from the risks posed by trees on their premises.

Ultimately, schools should approach tree management as a balancing act, weighing the risk of injury and property damage against the social benefits provided, in order to ensure the best outcome for students and the broader school community.