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With the tree care industry ranked among the most dangerous professions, the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) has taken steps recently to increase safety awareness among arboriculture professionals. After launching a new tree care-specific Web page last month on the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) Web site, TCIA announced recently that it has created a new industry certification with a focus on safety.
“TCIA and previously NAA (the National Arborists Association) developed tools to help companies with safety training, producing videos, Tailgate Safety Programs, Pocket Guides and the Model Company Safety Program,” TCIA notes on its Web site. “What we haven’t done is made a significant difference in the overall industry’s accident rates. They are unacceptably high. This collective experience of the tree care industry reduces our credibility with the outside world and profoundly impacts insurance rates and other costs of doing business.”
As such, TCIA has created the Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP) certification, which is designed to help create a culture of safety within the tree care industry. The CTSP will be an individual certification program developed. The association will officially present the new program at its Winter Management Conference in February. Aspects of the program, including workshops and examinations, will be implemented throughout 2006.