How safe are my trees?

I often get asked about tree safety in woodlands where trainees are setting up their forest school or outdoor learning.  
The Health and Safety Executive guidance is that you must take all reasonable precautions to ensure your group and staff safety.  Ignorance is not a defence.
The simple answer is to check with your insurers for their guidance, make sure you have the correct level of liability cover in place and to regularly check your working environment for hazards.  Areas where your sessions usually run should have the trees checked by a qualified person at least once a year.  There is a useful article of the finer points of tree safety and visiting groups here:  https://vscg.org/good-practice/published/tree-safety-management
Have fun and stay safe. 
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