While I get to the car park this morning, i saw the tree work contractor getting ready to do some work. The manager whom i know from that contracting company talked to me. I was so happy that he had just certified as an arborist by ISA because it shows that he will be equipped with the basic tree knowledge. So I used my green laser printer to tell show him a topped branch and asked him to remind the foreign worker that is holding the chainsaw not to do such work. He replied : aiya, as long as no public complaints, the management is happy, our job is done.
We talked further about his other sites.
He was mentioning that he had suggested to do crowning and pollarding on one of the street trees. I further asked him to elaborate about the 2 methods mentioned.
Such methods are terribly not recognised and prohibited as a tree practitioner, especially when one is an ISA Certified Arborist. The idea of topping wasn't even drilled into him.
I am very disappointed with what the ISA Certified Arborist program that was conducted by the training branch of a government agency.
1 comment:
You have to understand that having undergone and met the standards required by said training agency does not mean that the training agency has the ability to enforce their graduates to those standards.
Very often, the people going through this certification program go through it with the objective of gaining certification - they will selectively use what knowledge the gain from the course instead of completely overhauling what they do in their jobs. His comments to you show his motivation - no complaints from public or the bosses, then all is good. Getting the ISA cert is a means of getting employed, and employers getting contracts.
That is what the Singapore Arboriculture Society is trying to do, by having a Code of Practice. We cannot become a profession if the bulk of our peers are not part of a group that holds itself to a set of ethics and principles, but instead relies on external forces to regulate our work behaviour.
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