Do UK tree workers need a chainsaw ticket?
What HSE's chainsaw leaflet and training page say about certificates of competence, who is excepted, how often refreshers are suggested, and where the FISA guide words it differently.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here.
A chainsaw ticket is the trade word for a certificate of competence or national competence award. HSE's leaflet Chainsaws at work (INDG317), published in January 2013, says anyone who uses a chainsaw at work must receive adequate training and be competent for that type of work. The wider guide to the award codes is UK chainsaw tickets and their codes.
What the leaflet says about tree work
The leaflet quotes the Approved Code of Practice that supports regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). The quoted text says that before using a chainsaw to carry out work on or in a tree, a worker should have received appropriate training and obtained a relevant certificate of competence or national competence award, unless the worker is undergoing such training and is adequately supervised. The leaflet reads this to mean everyone working with chainsaws on or in trees should hold such a certificate or award, unless all three of these apply: it is an agricultural operation such as hedging, clearing fallen branches or pruning trees to keep clearance for machines, it is done by the occupier or their employees, and the person used a chainsaw before December 5, 1998. It adds that operators in agriculture or any other industry must be competent under PUWER.
Trainees consolidating skills through work, the leaflet says, are supervised by a person competent with a chainsaw for that work, who holds the relevant certificate or award.
What the HSE training page says
The HSE page on training and certification says the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 puts general duties on employers and the self-employed to provide health and safety training, and that the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require it at induction, for new or increased risks, for refreshers and where a supervisor finds weaknesses. Refresher training is described as recommended at specific intervals for certain high-risk activities, for example operating chainsaws.
The National Careers Service job profile for a tree surgeon lists, among the things a tree surgeon needs, a Certificate of Competence if carrying out hazardous tasks with a chainsaw.
Refresher intervals, as two documents word them
| Source | Interval it gives |
|---|---|
| HSE, Chainsaws at work (INDG317) | Occasional users: every two to three years. Full-time users: every five years |
| FISA Safety Guide 805, August 2025 update | States that INDG317 recommends refresher or update training every three to five years, and itself recommends recorded refresher training at least every five years for most machinery operations, chainsaw and aerial tree work included |
The two rows differ on what the leaflet advises. The leaflet's own text, in the first row, is the one HSE publishes. FISA guide 805 also says that following its guidance is not compulsory, and that a person who follows it will normally be doing enough to comply with the law.
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and the National Careers Service and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Sources
- UK Health and Safety Executive, Chainsaws at work INDG317, published January 2013, read October 8, 2026
- UK Health and Safety Executive, Training and certification for tree work, page dated 2026-09-22, read October 8, 2026
- UK FISA, Safety Guide 805 Training and certification, update August 2025, read October 8, 2026
- National Careers Service, Tree surgeon job profile, read October 8, 2026