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Tree care industry urges OSHA to adopt ANSI Z133–backed federal standard
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Summary
Tree care representatives told the House subcommittee that a dedicated federal OSHA standard based on the industry consensus ANSI Z133 would reduce injuries and clarify enforcement, while employers and some members said OSHA has delayed action despite repeated industry requests.
Tree care businesses and lawmakers pressed the House Education and Labor subcommittee to push the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to finalize a federal tree care safety standard that industry groups say would reduce fatalities and replace a patchwork of state approaches.
Ben Tresselt, president of Arborist Enterprises and former chair of the Tree Care Industry Association, told the panel that tree care is among the nation’s most hazardous trades and that workers “suffer serious injuries and fatalities well above the national averages.” Tresselt urged OSHA to adopt a standard grounded in the ANSI Z133 consensus document, which the industry uses for safe practices.
Why it matters: Witnesses and members said the absence of a federal tree care standard leaves employers and inspectors applying a mix of general OSHA rules that do not reflect the technical work of climbing, crane-assisted access and aerial lifts. That ambiguity, industry representatives argue, can lead to inconsistent enforcement and unsafe outcomes.
Industry testimony and bipartisan interest. Tresselt told the committee that crane-assisted lifting of a climber into a tree — a method the Tree Care Industry Association and several state OSHA plans support — is often the safest approach when trees are compromised or in tight spaces, but federal OSHA “still applies a general rule of cranes prohibiting lifting lifting climbers into the tree, leaving the employer vulnerable to citation.”
Members from both parties endorsed the idea of a tailored federal standard. Representative Tim Kiley (R-CA) and Representative Chairman Wahlberg (R-MI) both noted bipartisan letters and long-standing advocacy for a rule and asked Tresselt about his experience on OSHA’s supplemental panels. Tresselt said the standard-setting panel recommended using ANSI Z133 as the framework and that the industry has petitioned for a federal standard for nearly two decades.
Implementation and safety trade-offs. Committee members and witnesses emphasized that a tree care standard would not expand regulatory obligations beyond current safety aims but would clarify which protections apply to tree care operations and how inspectors should evaluate compliance.
What’s next: Committee members urged OSHA to move expeditiously to translate the ANSI Z133 consensus standard into a federal rule. No binding action was recorded by the subcommittee in this hearing.
