Working later in tree work: what HSE, HSENI and CCOHS say about older workers
Three safety bodies in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Canada each publish a page on older workers. This page reports what each says about employer duties, risk assessment, injury and recovery, training time and job changes. None of the three pages is about tree work.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official sources say. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It is not medical or career advice either. The three pages are general workplace pages, and none of them names tree work, climbing or any other trade. They are set side by side so a tree worker can read what the regulators say about age at work. The wider routes are in the guide to where tree work leads, and roles next to climbing are on the page about when climbing stops.
Health and Safety Executive, Great Britain
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) page, marked as updated on January 22, 2026, says employers have the same health and safety responsibilities for older workers as for all workers. It says a separate risk assessment is not required for older workers, and that the risk assessment is reviewed when something significant changes, not when a worker reaches a certain age.
The page lists changes an employer may consider: more time for older workers to take in health and safety information or training, for example through self-paced training; chances for older workers to choose other types of work; and manual handling tasks designed to remove or cut the risk. It says not to assume that certain jobs are too physically demanding for older workers, because many jobs are supported by technology that absorbs the physical strain. It also mentions pairing older workers with colleagues in a structured programme to capture knowledge and learn from experience.
On the law, the page says employers must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all their workers whatever their age. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the duty to assess risks includes identifying groups of workers who might be particularly at risk, which could include older workers. On equality law, the page says discrimination because of age can be lawful if the employer can show a good reason for its policy, for example changes to work so that older workers can stay in the workforce. It says older workers have the same responsibilities as other workers.
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland
The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) page says the workforce is likely to hold a higher share of older workers, and repeats that a separate risk assessment is not required for them. Under the heading of myths, it says health and safety should not be used as an excuse to avoid employing older people. It lists these findings from research it attributes to the HSE site.
- 62 per cent of people over 50 describe themselves as feeling as fit as ever.
- Key mental abilities for workplace safety, such as intelligence, knowledge and use of language, do not generally show a marked decrease until after age 70.
- Where working memory or reaction time does decline, safe performance is unlikely to be affected, because older people can compensate with experience, judgement and job knowledge.
- Speed of learning tends to slow with age, but older workers can generally reach a good standard in new skills given extra time and practice.
- There is little conclusive evidence that older workers have more accidents than younger workers. The page adds that when accidents do involve them they are likely to cause more serious injuries, permanent disability or death, that they may have more slips, trips and falls, and that recovery may take longer.
The page also states the employer duty in the same terms as the HSE page and says an employee must take care of their own health and safety and that of others, and cooperate with the employer.
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) page cites Statistics Canada for the share of workers aged 55 and older rising from 10% to 21% of the workforce between 1996 and 2018, and says an ageing workforce affects all occupations. It says there is no exact commonly recognised age at which someone is an older worker: most studies have looked at people over 55, others at 45 or at 65.
The page says many studies find older workers have fewer work injuries but may take longer to get better, and that older workers may report more musculoskeletal injuries because repeated motions have had longer to build up. It says a return-to-work programme and reasonable adjustments to the job are important because of the longer recovery. It adds that illnesses caused by long exposure, such as to asbestos, silica or noise, can show up many years later.
On body changes, the page says people lose 15 to 20% of their strength between ages 30 and 60, that functional breathing capacity can fall by 40% between 30 and 65, and that the changes differ from person to person. It says studies show no consistent link between ageing and work performance, and names lack of recognition, difficulty with supervisors, high job stress and lack of support as the main reasons for poor performance, which it says can happen at any age.