As a tree care professional, you and your team handle chainsaws, climb towering trunks, and balance precariously from limbs and ladders.
That’s the nature of the job.
As a business owner, in addition to managing business operations and teams, you also have to prepare for the unique hazards of your trade: safety, equipment, chemicals, and property damage.
These hazards can hit you hard on your pocket, your reputation, and your team’s well-being.
It’s important to protect your company from possible liability arising from your work, the equipment you use, your employees’ actions, and the materials they handle.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at the risks that lurk behind your business and solutions that can save you from trouble.
Let’s look at all these tree care business risks in detail.
Liability Risks
This category covers a huge range of potential risks for your tree care business, from damage to a customer’s property to injuries sustained by bystanders watching your crew at work.
Picture this: a climber is pruning a large oak tree in a backyard when a branch snaps off, crashing onto the client’s fence and garden statues below.
If your business has a location that’s open to the public, such as an office, then you’re also at risk for anything that might happen on your property. When it comes to legal liabilities that could damage your company, an ounce of prevention — and proper insurance — is truly worth it.
How to Reduce Liability Risks
- Restrict areas of operation with barriers and warning signs.
- Properly secure job sites when leaving them unattended to avoid trespassers.
- Regularly inspect and maintain equipment according to manufacturer guidelines.
- Create detailed standard operating procedures for risky work activities. · Consider TreePro’s Comprehensive Coverage.
Professional Liability Risks
If you provide tree care advice, or services based on that advice, you open your business up to professional liability risks.
For example, you recommended an expensive treatment option to correct a problem; the treatment didn’t work and the customer sues you for not just the cost of the ineffective treatment, but also for the cost of removing and replacing the tree.
How to Reduce Professional Liability Risks
- Get a second opinion from a seasoned arborist if you’re uncertain about the best approach to a specific tree care problem.
- Ensure that all employees follow a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) when using chemicals. · Consider a Professional Liability Policy that covers “Errors and Omissions” specific to tree service businesses.
Environmental Risks
As a tree pro, you know hazardous substances come with the territory.
All these substances carry risks — for your workers, clients, the public, and the environment. Pesticide over-spray can sicken people. Gasoline spills can contaminate soil. Even minor chemical leaks can be hazardous over time.
If something goes wrong, whether it’s an application error, spill, or other accident, it creates serious environmental liability for your business.
How to Reduce Environmental Risks
- Ensure that your employees are properly trained and licensed for chemical applications.
- Make sure that all necessary permits and certifications are up-to-date.
- Comply with all state, federal, and local regulations regarding the proper storage, use, and disposal of chemicals and waste products.
Fire Hazards
With all of the chemicals stored on-site, many of which are flammable, there’s always a risk of fire.
How to Reduce Fire Hazards
- Store all solvents, fertilizers, insecticides, etc. in a well-controlled area, in the appropriate containers, and with labels firmly affixed.
- Post no-smoking signs in areas where flammable substances are stored or used, and ensure that non-smoking rules are followed.
- Ensure that smoke detectors are installed in appropriate locations and that batteries are changed regularly.
- Check fire extinguishers regularly, and keep them fully charged and readily available. · Consider a Commercial Property Insurance Policy that is custom-made for tree service companies.
Property Risks
The physical property associated with a tree service business often includes buildings like an office or garage, as well as storage yards housing vehicles, tools, chemicals, equipment, and materials.
Storage yards may contain flammable mulch, firewood, wood chips, logs, live trees and shrubs for planting jobs, and more.
How to Reduce Property Risks
- Install a security system.
- Ensure your building(s) comply with all local, state, and federal building codes. · Consider a Commercial Property Insurance Policy that recognizes and covers a tree care company’s risks and reality.
Transportation Risks
Because tree work is done on your customer’s property, you’ll need to transport any necessary tools, equipment, or materials to the job site. That puts your business equipment, goods, or tools at risk from theft, damage, or loss during transit.
How to Reduce Transportation Risks
- Keep an eye on your vehicles at all times. Install surveillance cameras if you’re in an area prone to auto theft, and ensure your vehicles are parked in secure (ideally gated) locations.
- Ensure that doors and windows are locked and all equipment is secured. · Consider an Inland Marine Policy.
Crime Risks
Even if you use the best hiring practices, and conduct a thorough background check, there’s still a risk that an internal or external party will engage in crime.
You can screen candidates diligently, but you can’t predict poor behavior that arises after hiring or control external factors.
How to Reduce Crime Risks
- Keep duties like ordering, billing, and disbursement separate and with regular reconciliations.
- Have strict guidelines detailing when and how employees are allowed to accept payments off-premise.
- Implement an inventory management system to ensure that no tools, equipment, materials, etc. are missing.
- Check your financial statements each month. · Consider a Crime Insurance Policy.
Employee-Related Risks
The tree care industry is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States.
The leading causes of injuries and fatalities? Risks stemming from the use of heavy machinery, working at extreme heights, and potential contact with power lines lurking above and below ground.
Between equipment failures, falling limbs, close calls with power lines, and occasional lapses in safety protocols, there is no shortage of hazards for tree service crews.
How to Reduce Employee-Related Risks
- As a tree service business owner, it’s your responsibility to put in place and enforce strict safety protocols for all employees.
- Weekly tailgate safety meetings, daily safety briefings, and going over each job before starting work can all go a long way in reducing employee safety exposures.
- Regularly and thoroughly inspect and maintain all equipment, including bucket trucks, ladders, safety harnesses, ropes, chainsaws, etc. · Consider a Workers’ Compensation Policy suited to the tree service business context.
Commercial Auto Risks
Getting yourself, your crew, and all the necessary equipment and materials to a job site requires one or more commercial vehicles, such as a pickup truck, chip truck, bucket truck, or car.
Although you and your drivers are always careful, accidents can and do happen, leaving you with potential legal liability for vehicle-related injuries to others or damage to their property by one of your vehicles.
How to Reduce Commercial Auto Risks
- Make sure all drivers know what to do in the event of a collision or overturned vehicle, including how to clean up any spills, broken glass, or debris.
- Ensure every driver has a valid license that’s appropriate for the type of vehicle they’re driving.
- Run MVRs before anyone is allowed to operate company vehicles.
- Keep all vehicles up to date on maintenance.
- Keep logs, licensing, and other important records at a central location.
- Consider a Commercial Auto Policy.
Minimize Risk, and Let Your Tree Care Firm Grow
While some risks related to tree work are an inherent part of the job, there are many things you, as the business owner, can do to minimize the risk for your employees, your customers, and your business.
However, even with the best plans in place, risk cannot be eliminated. That’s where a tree service insurance policy comes in. TreePro stands out as an insurance partner for tree care businesses like yours.
Our industry-specific program offers a comprehensive solution that caters to tree service businesses of all sizes, ranging from owner-operators to the industry’s largest companies
Don’t let an accident, injury, property damage, or theft put you out of business. Contact us today.
