Risk of Trees causing Injury or Death

Introduction

Many people consider trees to be a major hazard and to pose a significant risk of injury or death. The actual risk of injury or death being caused by a tree or part of a tree failing is very low compared to other risks encountered in ‘daily or normal life’.

Fatal Injuries caused by Trees

Research shows there were 64 fatalities in the UK resulting from trees or parts of trees failing between January 1999 and January 2009, an average of 6 fatalities per year.

 

In 2010, there were 1,857 fatalities on British roads.

Non-Fatal Injuries caused by Trees

 

The number of A&E cases in the UK attributable to being struck by trees or parts of trees is around 55 a year out of a total of some 2.9 million annual leisure-related A&E cases.

 

Footballs account for 262,000 cases per year, children’s swings account for 10,900 per year and wheelie bins account for 2,200 cases per year.

Risk of Fatal Injuries caused by Trees

 

The annual risk to any one individual of being killed by a tree is 1:10,000,000 (i.e. 6 deaths per 60 million head of population)

 

The HSE state that people regard a risk of ‘one death in a million’ as insignificant or trivial in their ‘daily or normal life’.

 

The individual risk of death caused by trees is one tenth or ten times lower than the risk people accept as being insignificant or trivial in their ‘daily or normal life’.

Fatalities in ‘daily or normal life’

The following table compares the calculated risks that are experienced in ‘daily or normal life’.