Licensed Arborist,will it ever happen

[tomthetreeman]

I read somewhere that the big fertilizer company in TX that has had two explosions leading to worker fatalities is still not required to have fire/explosion suppression systems in place. Gotta love Texas.

Tom

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

I read somewhere that the big fertilizer company in TX that has had two explosions leading to worker fatalities is still not required to have fire/explosion suppression systems in place. Gotta love Texas.

Tom

Worker fatalities... How about the 9 firefighters that didn't go home that night? Gotta love the almighty dollar!

 

[Gorman]

Can someone post a link to some policies put in place in other states where there is some regulation on who and how tree work can be done?

 

[Mark Chisholm]

The law here is being put in place still. The rules had to be written and now the DAG has to review them. It's coming together nicely though. I will post more when I have it.

 

[Nish]

If the property owner wants to trade lower service costs for higher risks to his own property, I say let it be. The health of the trees, however, rightly concerns more than just that property owner and arborist.

But I'm even concerned with regulations aiming to protect the trees. Won't increases in tree care regulation tend to increase the costs of tree care to its consumers--and won't these costs in turn tend to dissuade folks from planting trees and letting them grow big and valuable in the first place?

 

[treehumper]

Licensing and certification are and should be two different things. Licensing is a standard that the government requires to be met assuring that those practicing in a given profession are in fact meeting those standards. It protects the public from unscrupulous operators who will cause more harm than good. While the self taught individual may be as knowledgeable or better than a school educated person, it's harder for the consumer to assess that. Once trees are seen as critical parts of our community infrastructure then maybe there will be more effort toward licensing. In NJ there is a program in the making.

Certification on the other hand is a competitive advantage. For the public, it provides assurance of the person's credentials and that they are keeping their knowledge current to a prescribed level. We see this in a variety of professions. Think of accountants, there are different bodies they can join and become certified by. CPA, CA, CGA, CMA, which one suits you is entirely up to you but first you'll be able to ascertain the least of their knowledge by the credential they carry.

So, what's behind that patch and sticker is a third party that consumers can turn to.