ATC ‘22 ARBORPALOOZA: EXPLORING THE WIDE WORLD OF TREES
Wielding the A300 Standards: The Shield and the Sword Monday, October 3, 2022 | 3:50 pm to 4:50 pm (1 CEU) Presenter: James Komen Location: Boardroom 5 (7th Floor)
The ANSI A300 Standards are a documentation of what industry stakeholders can agree upon within the context of the ANSI approval process. When wielded correct - ly, they can form powerful legal weaponry to use both defensively and offensively. Learn how to limit your liability when performing risk assessments by following the mandatory requirements. Learn how to avoid offensive strategies by plaintiffs that attack insufficiency of inspections, reports, and pruning practices. This program emphasizes the practical applicability of the standards to everyday arboricultural practice. The focus is on Part 1: Pruning, and Part 9: Risk Assessment, but from the start, it makes clear that requirements in each of these sections are applicable to even those who do not perform pruning or risk assessment. The standards are appli - cable even to clients and municipalities that contract with tree service providers. By the normative references section, tree pruning contractors can be held to the standards of risk assessment, even if their scope of work is limited to pruning. By contrast, only a limited set of individuals meet the requirements of “qualified professionals” who can perform pruning. Failure to meet all of the prerequisites of the definition of an arborist would be a violation of the standards. The section on defensive application of the standards shows key passages that limit the scope of an assignment and of the potential liability exposure to arborists in the field. It highlights important limitations to remember to include in reports, contracts, and work orders. The section on offensive application of the standards helps prepare audience members for potential plaintiff strategies for using the standards to es - tablish a defendant’s liability. It highlights attributes that must be included in a re - port such as time frame, likelihood of failure, likelihood of impacting a target, and consequences. It also points to commonly violated sections of the standards with respect to pruning operations.
ATC ‘22 EXPLORATION GUIDE
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