The climber is clipped in. The named rescuer is feeding the chipper, a client vehicle blocks the gate and nobody has checked whether the emergency signal carries over the machinery. An arborist aerial rescue plan catches those failures before the climber leaves the ground.
Write the plan for the actual tree. Brief it beside the work area. Test access, communication and role coverage on the ground. Then make a clear decision: release aerial work or stop it.
Check the company procedure and safety regulator first
Start with the company emergency procedure. It sets the wider rules for raising an alarm, stopping work, contacting emergency services and managing an incident.
The site rescue card adds the facts that a company procedure cannot know in advance. Today’s tree. Today’s climber. The usable gate. The climbing system. The expected work position. The people who are actually standing on site.
Use the Safe Work Australia regulator contact list (opens in a new tab) to find the state, territory or Commonwealth workplace-safety regulator that covers the work. Check that regulator’s current requirements and terminology before setting the company process.
Do not treat a template, briefing note or answer written in the job file as proof of compliance. Match your process to the jurisdiction, the site and the company procedure.
Keep the rescue card separate from the SWMS and JSA
These records support each other. They do not do the same job.
Use a SWMS for high-risk construction work where one is required. It records that work, its hazards, the control measures and how those controls will be put in place, monitored and reviewed. A JSA is a business task-planning tool used to break a job into steps, identify hazards and set controls. Use the site induction for property rules, site contacts and shared controls.
Use the arborist aerial rescue plan to record rescue readiness for the specific tree. Put names, the foreseeable rescue situation, the selected trained response, supporting crew, rescue access, equipment locations, communication methods and first actions on the card.
Do not copy the full SWMS into it. That buries the details the crew needs during an emergency. Keep the card short enough to read aloud at the tree.
Write the arborist aerial rescue plan at the tree
Do not complete the card from the truck. Stand where the crew can see the tree, working side, machinery and property entrance.
Identify the exact tree. A note such as “rear tree” is weak when the property has several trees or emergency responders enter from another side. Record the species or another visible identifier if that helps the crew distinguish it, without turning the card into an inspection report.
Write down:
- Job address and postcode.
- Exact tree and work area.
- Usable property entrance.
- Street meeting point.
- Planned access side.
- Climbing system being used.
- Expected part of the crown or stem where work will occur.
- Foreseeable rescue situation covered by the plan.
- Trained company response selected for that situation.
- Rescue access and supporting crew required by that response.
- Intended route back to the ground.
- Conditions that require aerial work to stop.
Mark the physical obstructions that affect access. Look for electrical conductors, roofs, fences, sheds, rigging, timber, machinery, drop zones and parked vehicles. Record the obstruction and what the crew must keep clear.
Permit responsibility belongs with the job scope, not the rescue card. Check ownership and approval separately with the arborist tree-removal permit guide. A permit check does not replace rescue planning, and a completed rescue card does not approve tree work.
Match the rescue arrangement to the planned climb
Start with the climber’s expected position. Work backwards to the access system, available crew, staged equipment and clear route to the ground.
Identify a foreseeable situation that the plan must cover. Record the trained company response selected for it, the access that response needs and every rescuer or support person required to carry it out. The description should let the crew recognise the arrangement without teaching the technique.
Ask whether the planned response fits the crew’s recorded training and practical experience. Ask whether every nominated rescuer and support person knows the system being used on this job. A signature on a card does not prove that capability.
Keep technical rescue instruction out of the briefing. Do not improvise rope manoeuvres, cutting methods, casualty lowering or medical treatment beside the tree. Those tasks belong inside competent, supervised training and the business’s procedures.
Protect access from production work
Check whether the climber’s access route is expected to remain available. If the planned work could cut, load, move or obstruct that route, change the production setup before ascent.
Look at the landing area. It cannot also be an active drop zone, a timber stack or the space occupied by running machinery. Move the conflict now. Do not rely on the crew clearing it after an incident starts.
The same applies to rigging and vehicle movements. A rescue route that only works while the truck is away or a rigging line is unloaded is not ready.
If the arrangement exceeds the available capability, change something real. Change the crew, climbing system, equipment, work position or job sequence. Do not change the wording to make the card pass.
Assign every emergency function to a named person
Write a person’s name beside each function. “Ground crew” is not a name. “Someone at the gate” is not an assignment.
Name the incident lead. That person starts the response under the company emergency procedure, stops production work and directs the immediate site response.
Name every rescuer and support person required by the selected trained response. Confirm that each person will remain available while the climber is aloft and can leave their production task without leaving another emergency function uncovered.
Where the company procedure calls for replacement coverage, name the replacement and state when that person takes over. If the available crew no longer matches the selected response, stop the climb.
The chipper is a common failure point. If a named rescuer is feeding it, ask who stops and secures the machine and whether the rescuer can leave without creating another hazard. Reassign the work if the answer is unclear.
Also name the:
- 000 caller.
- Street access guide.
- First-aid lead.
- Ground controller.
The ground controller stops machinery, clears the work area and keeps clients, workers and the public out. The street access guide meets emergency responders at the nominated point and leads them through the usable entrance.
A person may hold more than one function only when the first actions do not conflict. The 000 caller cannot stay on the phone at the meeting point while also clearing the drop zone at the tree. Speak each assignment aloud and fix clashes before ascent.
Check coverage across breaks, supply runs and crew changes. If a named person leaves the property, their function leaves with them. Stop aerial work until the crew again matches the selected response and any replacement has been named and briefed.
Set up the 000 caller from the street
Start this check at the nominated street meeting point. Give the caller the written address, postcode, usable entrance and a plain description of where the tree sits within the property.
Walk the route from the street to the tree. Do not point at the gate from a distance. Open it. Check the width, surface, turns and obstructions that could delay access.
Record who controls any key, code or access device. If the only useful entrance is behind a locked gate and nobody can produce the key, stop. The property contact can provide access information, move a vehicle or keep a gate available. They do not take an operational rescue role.
Look for a truck, timber stack, client vehicle or machine that could block the route later. Mark the route as a no-parking and no-storage area for the duration of aerial work. Tell the property contact exactly which entrance must stay clear.
Prepare the caller to answer the questions described by Triple Zero (opens in a new tab). Keep the known facts on the card rather than writing an invented call script.
Give the caller:
- The address and postcode.
- The usable entrance and gate instructions.
- The street meeting point.
- The tree’s position within the property.
- The nature of the incident.
- The number and condition of casualties, if known.
- Current site hazards and access restrictions.
- The callback contact and device.
- The primary and backup communication method.
- The property contact’s name and access information.
Keep this information on the ground. The climber’s phone is not the caller card.
Test the device from the place where it will be used. Check signal, charge, machinery noise and who physically holds it. A working phone locked in another person’s vehicle is not ready.
Stage the equipment where the crew can reach it
Select the rescue equipment required by the crew’s trained arrangement and company procedure. Check that it matches the climbing system, expected work position, site access and route to the ground.
Do not publish or copy a generic equipment list and assume it fits every climb. Build a plan-specific inventory from the selected trained response. For each required item, record its description, compatibility with today’s climbing system, readiness or inspection check and exact location.
Use the inspection and maintenance controls set by the business. The rescue card records the readiness check for this job. It does not replace the underlying inspection or maintenance record.
Record the exact location of each staged item. “In the ute” is vague. Write the vehicle, compartment or ground position so another crew member can find it without searching.
Point to the rescue equipment during the briefing. Point to the first-aid kit as well. Keep both clear of timber, fuel, production tools and vehicles that may move.
A missing, defective, inaccessible, incompatible or unfamiliar item is a stop condition. Do not add unfamiliar equipment as a quick fix for a weak plan. Change the work arrangement or bring in the right capability.
Run the aerial rescue briefing beside the tree
Gather the crew where they can see the tree, entrance, machinery and staged equipment. Read the operating facts, not the whole company procedure.
Cover the exact tree, climbing system, expected work position, foreseeable rescue situation, selected trained response and intended route to the ground. Name the incident lead, every required rescuer and support person, caller, access guide, first-aid lead and ground controller.
Show the emergency signal. Show the equipment. Point out the entrance, meeting point and route from the street. State the conditions that stop aerial work.
Then use read-back. Each named person repeats their role and first action in their own words.
Each rescuer or support person states what task they will leave. The caller states where they will call from and what incident and location details they hold. The access guide points to the meeting place. The ground controller states which machinery and area they control.
Do not settle for nods. If a crew member cannot explain their first action, brief the point again. If the assignment still does not work, change it before the climber leaves the ground.
An aerial rescue briefing is not improvised rescue training. It confirms that trained people understand today’s arrangement. Keep technical practice inside planned, supervised training sessions.
Test the tree climbing rescue checklist on the ground
Test the parts that can fail without putting anyone aloft. The test checks readiness. It does not prove technical rescue competence.
Call or sound the agreed emergency signal from the intended positions, with normal site noise present where practical. Walk from the street meeting point through the usable entrance to the tree. Open any gate and confirm who controls the key or code.
Point to every item in the plan-specific rescue inventory and the first-aid kit. Have each named person repeat their role and first action. Confirm that machinery can be stopped, the ground area cleared and the rescue access kept open.
If the agreed communication method fails, choose another method and test it. Do not release aerial work on an assumption that the crew will hear a shout when needed.
The machinery test should confirm who stops each machine and how the surrounding area will be controlled. It must stay within normal operating procedures. Do not create a new hazard to test an emergency response.
Stop and brief again when the job changes
The plan is valid only while the recorded conditions remain true. A change to the work can make the earlier briefing stale.
Pause aerial work when:
- The climber, rescuer or required support person changes.
- A named person leaves the property.
- The available crew no longer matches the selected trained response.
- The climber changes the access system.
- Work moves to a part of the crown not covered in the briefing.
- Rescue or first-aid equipment moves.
- Communication stops working.
- A gate is locked or the access route becomes blocked.
- Rigging, timber, machinery or vehicles obstruct the planned route.
- Weather or site conditions change the work arrangement.
Record the change. Review the affected fields. Repeat the affected part of the briefing and ground test. Then make another release decision.
A customer-approved variation deals with changed commercial scope. It does not release changed aerial work. If the climb changes, treat it as a safety stop first, even when the client has already approved the extra work.
Record stopped time and changed crew or equipment against the job after the site is safe. Use the arborist job-costing process to keep those actual job inputs separate from the rescue record.
Copy this site rescue card for the next job
Keep the card short. It must tell the crew what applies at this tree without becoming a rope-rescue manual.
SITE RESCUE CARD Job address: [address] Postcode: [postcode] Exact tree or work area: [identifier and location] Usable property entrance: [gate or access point] Street meeting point: [location] Gate key, code or controller: [name and detail] Route restrictions: [vehicles, width, surface or obstruction] Climber: [name] Climbing system: [system in use] Expected work position: [part of crown or stem] Foreseeable rescue situation: [situation covered by this plan] Selected trained company response: [response name or reference] Rescue access required: [access line, route or position] Required rescuers and support crew: [names and functions] Intended route to ground: [plain description] Conditions that stop aerial work: [site-specific conditions] Incident lead: [name] Rescuers: [names] Rescue support people: [names and functions] Replacement coverage required by company procedure: [names or not required] 000 caller: [name] Street access guide: [name] First-aid lead: [name] Ground controller: [name] Nature of incident to report: [known information] Number and condition of casualties: [known information] Current site hazards: [known information] Callback contact and device: [name and details] Plan-specific rescue equipment inventory: [item — compatibility — readiness or inspection check — exact location] [item — compatibility — readiness or inspection check — exact location] First-aid kit location: [exact location] Primary communication method: [method] Backup communication method: [method] Emergency signal: [agreed signal] Communication tested: [pass / fail] Street-to-tree route walked: [pass / fail] Gate access tested: [pass / fail] Roles read back: [pass / fail] Crew matches selected response: [pass / fail] Equipment inventory checked: [pass / fail] Machinery stop confirmed: [pass / fail] Failed checks and corrections: [details] Release decision: [AERIAL WORK RELEASED / AERIAL WORK STOPPED] Release person: [name] Date and time: [details] Rebrief required after change: [yes / no]
Do not pre-fill names or tick boxes for convenience. Complete the card with the crew at the tree. A copied answer can hide a changed gate, different climber or moved equipment.
The arborist aerial rescue plan has a pass or fail result. Mark aerial work released only after the named crew, selected response, equipment, access and communication checks match the plan.
If any item fails, mark aerial work stopped, assign the correction and test that item again before ascent.