As a self-professed tree nerd, there is nothing Bret MacKay likes to do more than climb trees, preferably white oaks. Except for one thing – teaching his fellow arborists how to do it safely.

As crew leader and climber with Bartlett Tree Experts, an accredited, 50-year TCIA member company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, MacKay has spent 10 years focused on residential-property tree pruning, maintenance and tree health care. But his interest in spreading safety got a boost four years ago when Bartlett made him the local office safety coordinator in its Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, location. A year later he earned TCIA’s Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP) credential, which helps teach trainers or “coaches” how to develop and nurture safe work environments at their companies.

“I found the training to be really interesting in terms of adult learning. It’s been a lot of growth for me, speaking in front of groups and talking to different types of learners. Before that I was learning how to train people on the fly, so it was nice to have the course to give me some structure on teaching different people. The certification was really useful in giving me tools for diversifying my teaching tactics.”

For example, each November he leads an in-depth, all-day safety meeting for the crew covering aerial rescue and Bartlett’s in-house electrical hazards awareness program.

“It can be a really dry topic, as in, ‘Power lines are dangerous, you must stay this many feet away, and here is your chart for the distance at sea level.’ It can get pretty boring,” says MacKay, who has covered the subject many times. “I try to find ways to engage the group and not just read the slides – asking questions and getting people involved and not having them fall asleep during a subject that could be a matter of life and death for them. I try to make it more of a conversation.”

“I try to find ways to engage the group,” says MacKay, “Asking questions and getting people involved and not having them fall asleep during a subject that could be a matter of life and death for them.”

Demonstrations and field trips outside the shop also help.

“Throughout the industry, in general, the sharing of knowledge is super important, and this certificate helps with that,” stresses MacKay.

Bret MacKay

MacKay says he has experienced first-hand the range of training quality, from the person straight out of college with an OSHA credential, probably an OSHA 10 card, but no helpful solutions, to someone like Rich Herfurth, BCMA, long-time safety and training coordinator for the New England Division of Bartlett Tree Experts. “He (Herfurth) did an amazing job of teaching people where they were at. If he told you you were doing something wrong, he had three ways to offer for how you could do it right,” says MacKay.

“In the tree industry, there are a lot of options for us to do things safely. The industry has changed so much in the past 20 years. People have different techniques that work for them and still get the job done safely. Being able to communicate that, or be a leader, to teach people how to do the work with the CTSP, is a phenomenal resource,” he says.

For more information about the CTSP program and upcoming workshops, click here.

Tamsin Venn is founding publisher of the former Atlantic Coastal Kayaker magazine and author of the book “Sea Kayaking Along the New England Coast,” and has been a contributing writer to TCI Magazine since 2011. She lives in Ipswich, Mass.