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"Providing professional leadership in Club Management..."
In
1972 in the opening statements regarding what was wrong with the health and
safety regulatory system Lord Robens’ Committee said perhaps the most
important implication is that if individual experience is not in the normal
course conducive to safety awareness then safety awareness must be
deliberately fostered by as many specific methods as can be devised to remove
the apathy which permeates society. They
went on to say that the sheer mass of Law, far from advancing the cause of
Safety & Health, may well have reached the point where it becomes counter
productive. The existence of this
mass law has an unfortunate and all pervading psychological effect confusing
people and frustrating them with their inability to relate it to their own
real world.
The
matter goes deeper. Robens suggested at the outset that apathy is the greatest
single contributing factor to accidents at work. A crucial point Robens
identified is that the primary responsibility for doing something about the
present levels of occupational accidents and disease lies with those who
created the risks, the management of the organization, and those who work with
them the staff.
What
Robens desired was that people take personal responsibility and exercise
voluntary self generated effort.
It
has long been widely accepted that one of the important factors in Safety
& Health are the attitudes, capacities and performance of people and the
efficiency of the organisational systems within which they work.
In
essence Robens stated that we need a more effectively self regulating system.
The promotion of these matters is not merely a function of good
management, or bad, but it is a normal management function just as production
or marketing is a normal management function.
There
is of course a fundamental weakness of such legal sanctions that is; the
Criminal Courts are inevitably more concerned with punishment for the events
that have happened than with curing the underlying weaknesses that caused
them. The main need therefore is
for better prevention.
Out
of this report was born the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
HSW
Act is designed to produce a framework for stimulating and encouraging self
control and the exercise of individual and co-operative responsibility.
Thus management were expected to make decisions regarding the risks.
Before
any decision can be made there has to be some appreciation of the risks
inherent within an organisation. Thus the Act expected that decisions to
evaluate the degree of risk be taken. The
expertise regarding the risks inherent in the running of a recreational
facility lie with those who work in that environment and manage it. Thus it is the Club Manager on whom this responsibility
falls.
Since the 1974 Act came into force the Secretary of State has enacted various Statutes prescribing that risk assessments be conducted for certain specific issues.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations
“An
employer shall not carry out any work which is liable to expose any employees
to any substance hazardous to health unless he has made a suitable and
sufficient assessment of the risks created by that work to the health of those
employees, and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of
these regulations.”
“..so
far as is reasonably practicable avoid the need for his employees to undertake
any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being
injured or where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the need make a
suitable and sufficient assessment of all such operations.”
“….requires
that a suitable and sufficient assessment of the health and safety risks of
using DSE.”
“the
employer must make an assessment to determine whether the proposed PPE is
suitable,”
There
are many more Regulations requiring assessments to be undertaken on specific
issues
Essentially
the “Management” Regulations require that an assessment be made of any
risks not covered by more specific legislation as above.
This covers those risks staff may be exposed to as well as those that
club members and their families may encounter.
When using the services of outside suppliers therefore, Club Managers
would be well advised to give serious consideration to the risk those
contractors may bring with them be they Bouncy Castles or electrical
equipment. Certainly it would be
prudent to ask any such contractors for their risk assessments prior to
engaging them.
Risk
assessment requires that certain matters be considered.
1.
The likelihood that a hazard will result in injury, or other undesired
outcome.
2.
The probable severity of the outcome.
3.
The groups of people who may be affected.
4.
The frequency, duration and numbers exposed to the risk.
The purpose
of undertaking a risk assessment is to “identify the measures we need to
take to comply with the Laws.” It
is therefore appropriate to include on the assessment form any control
measures deemed necessary to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
Clearly
there is no need to undertake such a detailed approach where the hazards are
well known, the risks readily apparent, and the controls directly applied.
It is thought that such would be the case with most risks.