Should You Hire a Tree Service With a CTSP on Staff?

Why this Qualification May Be the Difference Between A Good Tree Care Experience And a Bad One

When you're looking for a tree service professional in South Florida to care for your trees, one of the things you should check for is professional certifications and licenses. Though certifications aren’t as exciting as watching tree climbers at work or as flashy as new state-of-the-art equipment (although Sherlock Tree has those as well), knowledge, experience, and professional qualifications can make the difference between a good and bad experience working with a tree care company.

In this article, we focus on one particular tree care qualification, the Certified Treecare Safety Professional or CTSP, which is earned from the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA).

Tree Care is One of the Most Dangerous Professions

When you think of dangerous jobs, what comes to mind? Firefighter? Pilot? Maybe a utility worker or factory worker? While those careers all carry their own level of risk, working in the tree care industry is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

While the professionals at Sherlock Tree love working outdoors with trees, there are risks involved, including:

• Tall heights
• Powerful equipment
• Sharp tools
• Proximity to electrical lines
• Potentially brittle trees
• Heavy sections of trees that are in motion
• Opportunities for failures in communication

The tree care professionals are the ones most at risk, but they also need to keep in mind any buildings or structures nearby, other trees, neighboring properties, vehicles, and, most importantly, other people who are near the work zone.

Because of these dangers, the crews at Sherlock Tree Company train and plan for emergency situations on an ongoing basis.

A Certified Treecare Safety Professional is Trained to Prevent Damage

As we mentioned in our article about tree service insurance, hiring a tree care company with training and qualifications can help prevent issues before they happen. A CTSP not only knows the best safety methods for any given task but is charged with keeping the rest of the team informed on the latest safety techniques.

This focus on safety means that the Sherlock Tree team can prevent many dangerous or damaging situations, such as large sections of the tree falling without warning, cranes tipping over, chainsaw injuries, or falls.

A video recently went viral of a tree company’s crane tipping and crashing into a homeowner’s recently replaced roof. This is exactly the type of situation that a CTSP and the rest of the crew are trained to prevent. Knowledge of the equipment, as well as its limitations, is a vital part of the work that a professional tree service crew performs.

When you see the Sherlock Tree crew at work, especially during a potentially dangerous situation such as a hazardous tree removal, you are seeing the result of many hours of training, including safety training. The better the crew works together, the less likely mistakes are to occur.

A CTSP is Prepared for All Circumstances

While proper education, training, and experience prevent many disasters, a CTSP always trains for the worst-case scenario.

We hope that we never have to experience many of the disasters that can befall tree workers. But the Sherlock Tree team, and the CTSP in particular, are prepared for whatever situation may present itself.

A Certified Treecare Safety Professional is Proactive Rather than Reactive

This training and preparation ensure that the Sherlock Tree team is always proactive when it comes to tree care safety rather than reactive. The goal is always to prevent any issues before they occur.

Sherlock’s Certified Treecare Safety Professional has attended training and is educated on safe work practices that are focused on leadership, hazard identification, incident control and prevention, and more.

Hiring a Tree Service With a CTSP on Staff Makes Everyone Safer

Working with Sherlock Tree Company means that you benefit from this training and ongoing education, along with our extensive experience, every time we are on your property.