Arborist Job Hazard Analysis: Plan the Work Before the Cut

The crew arrives and finds that the planned aerial-lift position is soft and sloped. An arborist job hazard analysis should catch that mismatch before the first cut.

Treat the document as the bridge between the work sold and the method the crew can carry out at the tree. Inspect the site. Choose the method. Assign the controls. Brief the crew. Stop and revise the plan when the facts change.

Start the arborist job hazard analysis with the work sold

Read the accepted quote, booking notes, customer messages, and site photos before dispatch. Identify the tree, the work sold, access promised by the customer, cleanup, debris removal, stump work, and exclusions.

Use the arborist tree removal quote guide for scope, access, rigging, and disposal details when the quote needs more field detail. The Tree Care industry page shows how Yes Foreman keeps the customer scope and field job record together.

The quote and the arborist job hazard analysis do different jobs. The quote records what the customer agreed to buy. The hazard analysis records how the crew plans to perform that work under the conditions found at the jobsite.

Turn the scope into a task sequence

Do not write “remove tree” as one task. Break the job into steps the crew can recognize:

• Arrive, park, and control access.
• Inspect the tree and surrounding area.
• Set barriers, equipment zones, and material routes.
• Establish climbing or aerial-lift access.
• Remove branches or sections in the planned order.
• Lower, drop, or move material.
• Process debris and load timber.
• Clear the site and reopen access.

Change the sequence to match the actual job. A directional fell, sectional removal, crane-assisted removal, and pruning job do not create the same work steps.

Record boundaries before they become arguments

Write down what the booking excludes. Examples include stump grinding, hauling logs, restoring turf, moving customer property, controlling traffic, or working beyond the property boundary.

Scope boundaries are not safety controls. “Customer will keep the driveway clear” does not control the driveway once a delivery driver enters it. Assign someone to watch the entry and stop cutting when access is breached.

Complete the tree work site assessment before choosing the method

Walk the site before unloading equipment into the work zone. Look at the tree, ground, structures, access, overhead lines, traffic, neighboring property, and everyone who could enter the area.

Use the tree work site assessment to compare the booking notes with the site. Mark every mismatch before selecting access, cutting, rigging, processing, and material-movement methods.

Inspect the tree from the available positions

Check the trunk, root area, unions, crown, lean, deadwood, cracks, cavities, decay, and suspended material that can be seen. Do not guess about concealed wood or an anchor you cannot inspect.

Map the likely movement of each section. A cut branch can swing, roll, bounce, slide, or rotate. A rigged load transfers force through the rigging point and the tree. The first landing point is not the end of the hazard.

A tree risk assessment and a job hazard analysis are not the same record. A tree risk assessment considers the tree and potential targets. The job hazard analysis organizes the crew’s tasks, hazards, controls, and responsibilities for this job.

Inspect the ground and plant positions

Check slopes, soft areas, recent excavation, hidden edges, overhead clearance, gates, and turning space. Mark where an aerial lift, chipper, truck, or other equipment can stand without blocking emergency access or pushing workers into an active drop zone.

If the aerial lift cannot reach its planned position because the ground is soft, sloped, or obstructed, stop. Do not replace lift access with an improvised climbing method because the equipment is already booked.

Find every person who could cross the work

Identify residents, pedestrians, road users, delivery drivers, pets, and other contractors. Decide how each entry point will be controlled.

Name the person who controls access. Give that person authority to stop cutting, lowering, feeding, or equipment movement when someone enters the controlled area.

Choose the method before assigning controls

Choose the access and removal method first. Then name the crew, equipment, zones, signals, rescue setup, and cut order.

Ask blunt questions:

• Can the assigned worker reach and work from the planned position?
• Can cut material travel through the planned path without crossing people or structures?
• Can the ground support the planned equipment position?
• Can the crew maintain communication through the full sequence?
• Can the rescue plan work from the selected access position?

If the answer is no, change the method before work starts. Do not make the paperwork describe one method while the crew uses another.

Draw the working zones

Mark the cutting area, drop zone, rigging area, equipment area, processing area, and public-access boundary. Use gates, driveways, cones, barriers, spotters, or clear site features the crew can point to.

Set a route for branches and timber moving to the chipper, truck, or stacking area. Keep that route out of active cutting and lowering zones. If two activities must use the same route, name the person who stops one before the other begins.

Keep the chipper position and feed path out of the climber’s drop zone. Keep workers who are processing material out of suspended-load paths. PPE does not fix a bad site layout.

Fill out an arborist job hazard analysis form

For each work step, record the hazard, the control, the person who installs it, the person who checks it, the check point, and an observable stop-work trigger.

Write instructions. “Be careful around falling branches” tells the crew nothing. “Close the marked drop zone before cutting and stop if any person crosses the barrier” can be seen and followed.

Use this blank internal worksheet. It is a planning document, not a claim that one form satisfies every federal, state, city, client, utility, or contract requirement.

Arborist job hazard analysis

Job reference: [reference]
Customer and address: [name and jobsite]
Tree and booked work: [identify the tree and sold scope]
Scope exclusions: [work not included]
Assessment completed by: [name and role]
Supervisor: [name]
Crew and assigned roles: [names and tasks]

Site findings: [tree, ground, structures, access, lines, traffic, public]
Selected work method: [method and sequence]
Work zones: [cutting, drop, equipment, processing, public access]
Material route: [route to chipper, truck or stack]
Communication method: [voice, radio and agreed signals]
Lost-communication response: [stop instructions]
Named emergency caller: [name and backup]
Site address confirmed by: [name]
Emergency access point: [gate, driveway or street entry]
Person meeting responders: [name and meeting point]
Rescue lead: [name]
Planned rescue method: [method for the selected access system]
Required rescue equipment: [equipment and location]
Rescue stop-work trigger: [condition that means the planned rescue cannot be carried out]

Work step: [specific task]
Hazard: [what can cause harm]
Control: [what the crew will do]
Control installed by: [name or role]
Control checked by: [name or role]
Check point: [when it is checked]
Stop-work trigger: [observable condition]

Supporting records: [equipment checks, permits, service details]
Crew questions and changes: [record]
Briefing completed by: [name]
Briefing participants: [names]
Current version: [version and time]
Superseded copies removed by: [name]

Completed tree-work example

This compact example shows how the work steps connect. Replace every entry with the conditions, crew, equipment, and method for your job.

Each row names an action, an owner, and a reason to stop. Add separate rows where the tree, terrain, equipment, traffic, or work sequence creates another decision.

Keep the JHA, site assessment, equipment checks, rescue plan, permits, and customer documents as separate records. Put them in one job pack, but do not pretend one form replaces the others.

Cover the hazards created by the actual work

A generic hazard list misses the interaction between the tree, method, crew, and site. Work through each task in sequence and add a form row wherever the load path, equipment position, worker position, or public route changes.

Falling material and cutting work

Record where branches, tops, stem sections, hangers, and rigged loads can travel. Include swing, rebound, rolling, and movement after landing. Keep cleanup outside the active cutting and lowering zone.

Stop if the wood moves outside the planned path. Use the form trigger to close the area while the supervisor reviews the rigging point, cut order, and landing zone.

Climbing, rigging, and aerial-lift work

Match the access method to the inspected tree and equipment position. Name who checks the anchor, rigging setup, lift position, and work zone before loading them.

If the climber finds decay or a cavity that could not be confirmed from the ground, use the changed-condition trigger. Review the anchor, access, loading, cut sequence, and rescue setup before work resumes.

Equipment, traffic, and public movement

Control backing, turning, feeding, loading, and timber movement. Assign a spotter where the operator cannot see the full route. Keep the emergency access point open.

Use the site-access and material-processing rows when a resident, vehicle, or other contractor changes the layout. Do not create a second set of instructions in the hazard list.

Overhead lines and weather

If an overhead line crosses the planned drop, access, rigging, or equipment path, stop the affected work and keep that zone closed. Contact the utility owner, then check OSHA (opens in a new tab) or the applicable state-plan workplace-safety agency (opens in a new tab) before selecting a method near the line. The crew does not decide that the line is safe.

Record the weather condition that would change footing, visibility, climbing, equipment use, or control of material. Put the observable condition in the stop-work field instead of writing “bad weather.”

Make the rescue plan executable

Name the caller and a backup. Have one person confirm the site address, emergency access point, and route before equipment or debris blocks them.

Name the rescue lead and the person who will meet responders. Record the rescue method and required equipment for the selected climbing or aerial-lift setup. Put the equipment where the crew can reach it without entering the incident area.

Set one hard trigger: if the named people, access point, communication, method, or required equipment are unavailable, the planned work does not start. Update those fields when the crew or site layout changes.

Run the arborist crew briefing at the tree

Walk the site. Do not stand beside the truck and read the form aloud.

During the arborist crew briefing, point out the tree, anchors, equipment positions, cutting zone, drop zone, material route, public entry points, emergency access, and rescue equipment. Compare the written plan with what the crew can see.

Confirm each assigned role and ask each worker for questions. Record any change to the method, role, zone, signal, rescue field, or sequence before the first cut.

A late crew replacement needs a briefing and an updated participant record. Do not accept “someone will explain it while they work.”

Stop and revise the plan when the job changes

Set triggers before the crew needs them. Common triggers include:

• Hidden decay, a cavity, movement, or a damaged anchor point.
• Soft or unstable ground under a planned equipment position.
• An equipment breakdown or substitution.
• Weather or visibility that changes control of the work.
• A person or vehicle entering the controlled zone.
• Lost voice, signal, or radio communication.
• A changed material route or blocked emergency path.
• A new worker or changed crew role.

When a trigger occurs, stop the affected work and keep the zone controlled. The supervisor selects the revised method, updates the affected form fields, briefs the crew, and removes superseded copies before work resumes.

Do not swap climbing for aerial-lift work, alter a rigging point, or move the chipper into a new zone without reviewing the connected controls. One changed decision can alter several later steps.

Keep scope changes separate from safety revisions

A site discovery can create two records. The crew may need a revised safety plan, while the customer may need to approve added work, cost, or time through a change order.

Do not combine them. The JHA records the crew’s method and controls. The change order records what changed in the customer agreement. Update the work order after approval so dispatch, field records, and billing describe the same work.

The house example is electrical work, but the document rule carries across trades. On the Oak Street bathroom, quote Q-1847 was 1,105. The lined ceiling meant extra cable and chasing were approved on site as a 160 change order, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265. The approval record changed the customer scope and price. Any connected safe-work revision would remain a separate crew record.

If the tree job changes, describe the added work, price or timing effect, and approval needed. Use a work order template that carries the approved scope to the crew. Revise the safety plan whenever conditions change, but start added customer scope only after the change order is documented and approved under the contract and local requirements.

Do not make OSHA carry every local question

Use one question and one public body. Do not send every jobsite issue to the same office.

For a federal workplace-safety question, check OSHA (opens in a new tab). Where a state OSHA plan applies, check the state-plan workplace-safety agency (opens in a new tab). An internal worksheet does not replace the requirements that cover the job.

For tree permits, tree inspections, work in a public right-of-way, or protected-tree questions, ask the city or county office responsible for trees, planning, public works, streets, or urban forestry (opens in a new tab). Ask which office owns the question before filing anything.

For traffic-control approval on a public road, ask the road authority that controls that road. For an overhead or underground utility conflict, contact the utility owner and keep the affected work closed until the required coordination is complete.

For contractor or arborist licensing questions, ask the state licensing body (opens in a new tab) which license or credential, if any, covers the work. Do not assume every state uses the same title or scope.

Record these answers with the arborist job hazard analysis job pack before dispatch. Give the crew the current approvals and contact details, then walk the first jobsite against the completed form.