Utility arboriculture represents an estimated £150 million of arboricultural work in the UK each year adjacent to electricity supplies, plus work adjacent to rail, waterways and telecommunications networks.
It is important that the standards of both tree work and safety within the industry are consistent nationwide and this is the principal objective of the AA Utility Arboriculture Group (UAG).
The UAG's Terms of Reference focus on the unification of standards for tree work and safety within the utility industry. The UAG recognises that this will only be achieved and maintained by fostering positive links between all stakeholders: tree work contractors and managers, electricity suppliers (Distribution Network Operators (DNOs)), other clients (rail, water, telecom), the Department of Trade and Industry as regulator, the Health and Safety Executive, training organisations (especially Lantra Awards), awarding bodies (especially City & Guilds NPTC) and so on.
Rother Valley Tree Services are highly trained and are authorised tree contractors for a number of (DNO's) through out the UK, our staff hold full authorisations to work on trees within close proximity to high voltage power lines for Northern Power grid/ Western Power Distribution and Nation Grid.
The essential work that is constantly required for the (DNO's) is a constant maintenance program keeping trees at a safe distance from the overhead network with the objective of keeping the constant supply of electricity all its customers.
Other work that is essential is storm resilience work which requires trees to be constantly surveyed and any hazardous trees identified and removed. Some of the trees removed are not always in close proximity of the overhead lines but have the potential to breach the overhead lines if they were to fall during a storm.
Rother Valley Tree Services offer all these services and have built up a excellent reputation for utility arb work over the last 8 years. Not only for the quality of the work carried out but our approach to safety and passing all of the on site external audits that have been carried out.