Health and safety is important to all clubs and organisations. Clubs have a legal obligation towards the health and safety of volunteers.
As a start, the club should demonstrate its commitment to the protection of its members and volunteers against the risk of harm or injury by producing a Health and Safety Policy (see Resources side panel). It is important to write the policy in consultation with the club committee and the club members so that as many people as possible understand the policy and therefore are more likely to put it in to practice and adhere to the regulations.
To protect the club, and to ensure that you monitor and learn from all accidents and injuries, you should keep an Incident Log (see Resources side panel) to record all such events affecting club members and visitors, whether on or off the premises
Duty of Care
The duty of care is a general legal duty on all individuals, sports clubs and governing bodies to avoid carelessly causing injury to persons. The system has developed over many years and it is relevant to all, regardless of the size of your organisation, its income or whether you have paid staff.
A duty of care can arise in many ways, such as:
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Loaning equipment to others
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Fund-raising walks, events and sponsored runs
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Hosting tournaments and competitions
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Organising day trips
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Selling food at events.
A quick guide to the Health and Safety topics
Use the Articles panel in the righthand column to browse for guidance on the following Health and Safety issues:
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE)
Any club employing staff must register with the Health and Safety Executive (see link in Articles side panel). Clubs with volunteers only do not normally have to register their activities unless they are classed as dangerous activities.
The HSE often works with the National Governing Bodies (NGB’s) of sport to develop guidance on the approach to risks, however self-regulation also plays an important role in the majority of sports.
Clubs that own or are responsible for premises or buildings must register with the local Fire Authority.
Clubs that prepare, store, supply or sell food on five or more days in any five week period must register with the local Environment Health Department.
The HSE have not published any information specific to sports clubs, however in conjunction with the Charities Safety Group, they have published a guidance book ‘Charity and Voluntary Workers, a guide to health and safety at work’, this publication states: "In general, the same health and safety standards should be applied to voluntary workers as they would to employees exposed to the same risks. However, if the risk assessment shows that the risks to voluntary workers are different, the preventative and protective measures taken should reflect the different risks. HSE considers it good practice for volunteers to provide the same level of health and safety protection as they would in an employer/ employee relationship, irrespective of whether there are strict legal duties".
This publication also gives general guidance with regards to how health and safety legislation applies to voluntary workers, and is available from HSE books (details in contacts section).
The Health and Safety Policy template provides examples of good practice and guidance on the contents required. Each club’s policy will differ depending on the sport, the type of club premises, if the club owns or hires its facilities, if it has paid employees, junior members or participants with special needs etc. You will also require an Incident Log in which to record all accidents, injuries and incidents affecting members and visitors both on and off your premises.
