Tree work07884 274693Training01772 369694
If trees on your site have been inspected, that is a good start. But if you cannot show what was found, what was decided, and what happened next, those inspections may count for very little when it matters most. Good tree risk management is not just about having work carried out. It is about maintaining a clear, usable record that demonstrates sensible, proportionate decision-making over time.
This guide sets out what records your site should be keeping, how they should be structured, and why they are essential for protecting the people who use your land.
Responsibility for trees does not sit with your arboriculture contractor. It sits with you, as the landowner or occupier. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Occupiers’ Liability Acts 1957 and 1984, you have a legal duty to manage the risks that trees on your land may pose to employees, visitors, and members of the public alike.
The HSE’s guidance on managing the risk from falling trees makes clear that any system for tree safety “should be properly applied and monitored,” including keeping a short record of when areas, zones, or individual trees have been checked, along with details of any defects found and the action taken. That is not bureaucracy for its own sake: it is the foundation of a defensible position should anything go wrong.
The HSE’s guidance notes that inspecting and recording every tree individually would be disproportionate to the risk in most circumstances. What the law requires is a proportionate, risk-based approach, and your records are how you prove you took one.
The National Tree Safety Group (NTSG) reinforces this in its guidance. The aim is not to eliminate all risk, but to show that risks have been identified, assessed, and managed in a way that is reasonable given the circumstances of your site.
Records do not need to be complex, but they do need to be complete. Here is what a sound tree risk management record set typically includes.
Before you can manage risk, you need to know where your trees are and how they relate to people. Dividing your site into zones based on the frequency of public or staff access is a practical starting point. A car park, a play area, and a pathway used daily all carry different risk profiles to a fenced compound or an unused corner of a field. A simple map showing these zones, and which trees sit within them, gives your inspection regime a clear rationale.
For each inspection, you should record the date, who carried it out, what was assessed (individual trees, zones, or areas), and what was found. This does not need to be a lengthy document. A concise, accurate entry is more useful than a vague one that covers itself in caveats.
Following tree risk assessments and inspections, a qualified arborist will assign a risk rating to each tree or group of trees and recommend appropriate action. That may be remedial work, monitoring, or no action at present. These ratings and recommendations should be recorded, dated, and retained.
It is not enough to know that work was recommended; you need evidence that it was followed up. Records should show what action was taken, when, by whom, and to what standard. Where recommended work has been deferred (perhaps for planning reasons, or pending ecological surveys) the reasoning should be documented too. A clear decision trail protects you far more effectively than a gap in the paperwork.
Good records do not end with a completed job. They carry forward, noting when the next inspection is due and flagging any trees or zones that need closer monitoring.
There is no single universal answer, because inspection frequency should reflect the risk profile of your site, not an arbitrary calendar. Higher-risk zones (such as those with frequent public access, mature trees, or known defects) warrant more regular attention. Lower-risk areas may need only periodic review.
That said, there are clear triggers that should prompt an inspection and a corresponding record update regardless of where you are in the routine cycle. These include:
Knowing what signs of tree hazards to look out for, and having a clear process for reporting and recording them, is just as important as the formal inspection cycle itself.
One of the most common failings in tree safety documentation is not the absence of inspections, but the absence of follow-through. An inspection without a recorded outcome, or a recommendation without a recorded response, leaves a gap that an insurer or investigator will quickly notice.
The consequences of poor tree risk management can be severe. In one well-publicised case, Newcastle City Council was fined £280,000 following the death of a six-year-old struck by a falling tree in a school playground; in another, Bupa Care Homes was fined £400,000 after serious life-changing injuries were caused by a tree falling near a care home entrance. The HSE described both incidents as “avoidable.”
Landowners and occupiers are not expected to be an “insurer of nature,” but to avoid criminal and civil liability they do need to manage the risks from the trees they are responsible for. The question any investigation will ask is not whether a tree fell, but whether the duty holder had a reasonable, documented system in place, and whether they followed it.
HSE guidance states that, when assessing enforcement, inspectors will consider factors including the existence of a system for managing trees based on the level of risk, and the implementation of that system in practice, including a procedure to act on issues of concern.
Good records answer both of those questions directly. They show that you identified the risks, made informed decisions, and acted on them. Records that are incomplete, inconsistent, or out of date do the opposite.
Do we need a record for every single tree?
Not necessarily. The HSE guidance is clear that individual records are unlikely to be necessary for most trees, provided that zones and the trees within them are clearly defined. Maps can be particularly useful here. Individual tree records are more likely to be appropriate where a specific tree has known structural faults, sits in an area of high public use, or has been the subject of a management decision.
Who should be keeping these records?
Responsibility for the overall record system sits with the landowner or occupier: you. The records themselves will typically be produced or contributed to by a qualified arborist following tree surveys and formal assessments. Your internal teams (estates staff, facilities managers, grounds maintenance operatives) play a role in day-to-day monitoring and should have a clear way to log and escalate any concerns they observe between inspections.
What format should the records be in?
There is no prescribed format, but records should be accessible, consistent, and easy to update. Many sites use a combination of site maps, inspection reports, and a simple action log or register. What matters is that records are kept in a way that makes the inspection history and decision trail easy to follow for your own team, for your insurer, and, if necessary, for an external investigator.
How long should records be kept?
There is no single statutory retention period for tree inspection records, but given the potential for civil claims arising years after an incident, retaining records for at least six years is a widely recommended minimum, and longer for sites with high public footfall or known historic issues.
At Great Oaks, tree management is something we approach with the same practical rigour we bring to the physical work on your trees. We understand that the sites we work on carry real responsibilities to the people who use them daily, and to the organisations that manage them.
Our tree services for commercial and public sector sites include full tree surveys, formal risk assessments, and ongoing arboricultural management, all carried out by qualified professionals and documented to a standard that supports your duty of care. We are ARB Approved by the Arboricultural Association and Constructionline Gold accredited, so you can have confidence in both the quality and the credibility of the work we produce.
Where sites need more than a one-off inspection, our arboriculture consultancy service can help you build a structured management plan that is proportionate to your site, defensible under scrutiny, and straightforward for your team to maintain.
We are based in Preston and work across Lancashire and the wider North West. If you would like to talk through what your site needs, get in touch with the Great Oaks team today.
07884 274693
office@greatoakstreeservices.co.uk
Contact us online
Careers
Climbing, grounds maintenance and utility work.Climbing, grounds and utility work.
Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor.
Last minuteAvailability
Starts Monday 19 October 2026
3 days plus 1 for assessment
£9671 place
Entry requirements: Ground Based Chainsaw Operator and Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue
Book this date, Using a Chainsaw from a Rope and HarnessOr call the training office on 01772 369694
