Health and safety session

1. Health and safety session Rob Delahay r.delahay@worc.ac.uk Health and Safety Advisor - School of Sport

2. Outline • Why is H&S Important • Examples/ Duty of Care/ Responsibility • Barriers • Legal Framework • Risk Management • What is Risk • Aspects of risk • Assessment of risk • How you should manage risk

3. Why is H&S Important? • First - legal considerations • There is a need to comply with health and safety legislation – sometimes laid down by the UK Parliament but also nowadays by the European Parliament. Criminal and Civil litigation. • Second – moral considerations • Anyone for whom we are responsible, whoever they are – students, staff, spectators, members of the public – should leave in the same state of health that they arrived in. • Third – financial considerations • Accidents and ill health cost money. Resources should not be wasted or lost due to a poor safety performance and, of course, negligence can lead to huge claims in the event of successful litigation. • In the event of a serious accident or an accident when a claim is made, it is very unpleasant to be put on the spot when the representative from the insurance company (who will inevitably visit) interviews all those involved and scrutinises all procedures even if you feel confident that everything is in order!

4. This Could Never happen to us!! • Accidents have happened and continue to happen, not just broken bones but accidents which result in fatality or life altering injuries. You may have heard about some of them: • In 1993, 4 teenagers died in a canoeing accident off Lyme Regis. The activity was organised by a company supposedly professional and proficient in organising such activities. The managing director of the parent company was successfully prosecuted because, actually, it wasn’t. • In 1994, Colette Fleetwood was blown to her death from Cwm Glas in Snowdonia. She was a student at UWE and was on a trip with the SU Fell Walking Club. Again, the weather conditions were so dreadful, the experience of many of the participants was so little and the clothing and equipment so inadequate, that the trip should never have taken place. • In 2007 a student from Edgehill College Devon died when she was swept away in a swollen river while on a training expedition on Dartmoor.

6. Duty OF CarE • Responsibility for your health, safety and welfare and that of others lies not only with the organisation i.e. the University, the Students’ Union and the activity group but with yourselves both as SU activity officers/volunteers and as SU activity members. • Each of us owes a ‘duty of care’ to our ‘neighbours’ not to cause them injury by our negligent acts and omissions. • In order to satisfy or discharge this duty of care, you must behave as a ‘reasonable person’ would, taking into account your specific skills, knowledge and experience. • Your ‘neighbours’ are those people who, if you thought about it, might be injured by your negligent acts and omissions. • The duty of care requires you to consider the consequences of your acts and omissions and to ensure that they do not give rise to a foreseeable risk of injury to any other person

7. Duty of Care • Clubs have a duty of care (duty of care refers to a general legal duty on all individuals, sports and physical activity clubs and National Governing Bodies to avoid carelessly causing injury to people) • All of us understand that deliberately causing injury to others is a criminal offence ordinarily resulting in punishment of the perpetrator • All of us understand that some injuries are accidental i.e. the circumstances giving rise to them are wholly unforeseeable. No one is responsible. No compensation is payable. • In between these are ‘negligent acts’ i.e. they are not deliberate but the injury was foreseeable. The negligent person will not be punished, however, the injured party may seek financial compensation as a result. • The compensation is paid by the individual who has caused the loss and could amount to millions of pounds!

8. Responsibility • As officers of a student group YOU have accepted responsibility and your duty of care may – indeed almost certainly is – greater to your fellow members • For example, if you agreed to be the equipment officer you must take reasonable inspections of the equipment to see that it is reasonably safe. The same applies to group/project leaders or team captains • Furthermore, on any outing where no group leader has actually been appointed (e.g. Mountaineering) the most experienced and or qualified person there ought reasonably to intervene and at least advise if a foreseeable risk of injury arises and so they or you also will be regarded as owing a greater duty of care. You cannot say, ‘It wasn’t my responsibility’.

9. Barriers to good standards • Complexity Lack of awareness or experience necessary, co-ordination of such background knowledge can be difficult. I.e. finding a solution to a problem. • Conflicting Demands Others things are deemed more important. i.e. fixtures, fundraising events or socials • Behavioural Often good H&S practise requires ‘perfect behaviour’ and people often to not behave in the ideal way. People make mistakes and do sometimes do deliberately break the rules.

10. Legal framework • Accidents can be investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

11. What is Risk Management/Risk Awareness? • Looking after yourself? • Looking after others? • Keeping safe?

12. Aspects of risk/ EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT An effectiverisk management plan should identify and assess the widest possible range of risks in an organisational settings. In a sport setting, the goals of such a plan would be to resolve the levels of risk, address the safety controls that should be applied to reduce risk, and determine whether the risk is at an acceptable level withoutinterfering with the enjoyment of the activity (Miller 2006)

13. Examples of RISK MANAGEMENT • What measures have people taken to make their sport/society safe?

14. BREAKDOWN “A hazard is anything that may cause harm, e.g. chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, noise etc.” “Risk is the chance, high or low, of somebody being harmed by the hazard, and how serious the harm could be.” (HSE http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/controlling-risks.htm) 2017

15. Types of risk • Perceived/actual risk • Mechanical - Any moving equipment or machinery • Examples – Mountain Bike, Kayak, Sailing Boat, Ropes • Physical – Slips, Trips and Falls • Tripping over a tree root, Falling from a rock face, Burn from a camp stove • Chemical - Liquids/solids gases that can be harmful when touched or inhaled • Lubricants, cleaning products, methylated spirits/fuel for camping stove • Environmental - The weather and terrain • Extreme heat, Flash Flooding, Avalanches • Biological - Any bacteria or micro organism that might cause infection • Polluted water, WeilsDisease, BGA, E.coli, Enterio Cocci, PH, Faecal Coliforms……. • Organisational - Poor leadership skills • Challenging/Pushing group too far, Rushed Activity, Lack of or damaged equipment (PPE)

16. Aspects of risk • Risk equation • Perceived and Actual risk • Physical and Psychological risk • Risks to whom? • Risk of what?

17. Risk Equation/Rating Risk = Likelihood x Severity Crude example Rock climbing is low chance but high severity Risk = 1 x 10 = 10 Hill Walking is higher chance but lower in severity Risk = 6 x 4 = 24

18. Risk Spectrum • Barton (2007)

19. Perceived and Actual risk • Perceived risk is how the risk involved in an activity is felt by the person doing the activity. • Actual risk is the risk that is present in reality.

20. Physical and Psychological RISK • Physical risk is the ability to ascertain visual signals within a scenario and be able to dynamicallyassessthe situation in terms of reducing the potential exposure to that oncoming hazard. • Psychological risk is the likelihood that a negative scenario will create an lasting behavioural, mental and emotional response.

21. Risks to whom • Students (You) • Committee Members (lone working etc.) • Club Members • Members of the public • External professionals

22. Risk of what • Injury • Discomfort • Humiliation • Fines • Prison

23. Types of Risk Assessment • Generic: A general RA where the hazards and control measures are relevant to all or the majority of persons carrying out or involved in an activity. • Individual: A RA which takes in additional hazards etc which are only relevant to an individual involved in that task. This may be a staff member or service user. • Specific: A RA which deals with a one-off or rare activity or event. • Dynamic: Ongoing, continuous - requires level of change due to effecting factors.

24. 5 step Risk Assessment • What are the hazards? • Who might be harmed? • What are the current control methods? • What further control methods are required? • Review the assessment regularly. http://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/campaigns-fundraising/hse-five-steps-to-risk-assessment.pdf

25. What the HSE Say!! • How to assess the risks • Identify the hazards • Decide who might be harmed and how • Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions • Record your significant findings • Review your assessment and update if necessary http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/controlling-risks.htm

26. Things to consider within these steps… • Activity • Environment • Equipment • Group • Individual

27. Who should assess risk • Teams rather than individuals • Person being assessed (if appropriate) • People with relevant knowledge or expertise • People have appropriate training

28. Assessment of risk Purpose to highlight, minimise and manage potential areas of risk - not a tool to prohibit activities taking place. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/indg163.pdf

29. Question • Who is overall responsible for safety within your club/society? Are they competent?

30. how can YOU manage RISKY Activity?- Considerations • Mark of best practice: HSE/EHO/NGBs/BAPA/AALS /Technical Advisor • Equipment – Storage, Sign Outs, Logs, Inspections, Competency (Kit Sec), Maintenance, Decommissioning Process • Personal/Group Leader Competence - (NGB where applicable) – copies of certs, minimum FA, DBS (U18s) • Governing Body Compliance – Signs offs where appropriate • Risk Management – Risk Assessments, Induction Guidelines, SOPs, EAPs – contact UW, security, make arrangements (reviewed 12month min) • Committee Handover – Information, logs, central system

31. Insurance implications What will happen? In the event of any accident your risk management plan should kick in to action; all of the information should be written down so that all club/society members can have access to this. Everyoneshould be aware of the rules, expectations and operations outside of remit.

32. SU POLICY AND PROCEDURE • Risk Assessment Guide • Blank Risk Assessment Form

33. ADVICE

34. Planning for safety Don’t get tied up in red tape. Sports and Activities are enjoyed by people everyday without a problem.

35. Advice (1) • Have a plan for what to do if there is an emergency or something not going according to plan e.g. because of bad weather or fire. • Have a means of raising the alarm if there is an emergency. • Have adequately trained first-aiders. • Ensure an ambulance and/or fire engine can gain access to your venue. • Ensure everyone knows about the emergency arrangements. 

36. Advice (2) • Speak to all the key people who are going to be involved in the club activities to help you identify any significant health and safety issues and what to do about them • Check with your sports National Governing Body (NGB) OR Statutory Organisations to see if they provide any relevant information. • Most NGBs and networks are members of the Sport and Recreation Alliance (SRA). For NGB contact details see the SRA website. link to external website. https://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/

37. Advice (3) • Think about the risks - a risk is the chance, high or low, of somebody being harmed by a hazard, and how serious the harm could be. • Think about how accidents could happen and who might be harmed. • Think about what you will need to do to control the risks and ask if there is anything you should do to make your club activities safer. Focus on risks that could cause real harm. If there is a genuine risk, see what you can do to minimise that risk and still go ahead – it can often be done. Be sensible and proportionate in your approach to managing risk and unlike the example here, don’t go ‘over the top’ Does the decision make sense – is it proportionate to the level of risk?

38. Reasonably practicable This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble. However, you do not need to take action if it would be grossly disproportionate to the level of risk’

39. Think about • The risks – a risk is the chance, high or low, of somebody being harmed by a hazard, and how serious the harm could be • How accidents could happen and who might be harmed • What you will need to do to control the risks and ask if there is anything you should do to make your club activities safer • Financial, legal, event management and club reputation risks as well as health and safety • Common issues to look at and consider may include the condition of sports equipment & playing surfaces plus safe use and access to premises such as a clubhouse or changing rooms. • You can rate each risk on a scale of 1-3, 3 being the highest impact. You can also rate risks in terms of how likely they are to happen. • Clubs do need to monitor the risks and assess if anything changes over time that increases the risk factors. • You’ll need to focus on the risks that could cause real harm. If there is a genuine risk, see what you can do to minimise that risk and still go ahead – it can often be done. • And encourage everybody in the club to report issues and potential risks immediately to a club official.

40. References • Miller, J. (2006) Safety and Risk Management, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. [Online] 82 (6), 3-6. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com.proxy.worc.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1080/07303084.2011.10598632. [Accessed 18th February 2015] • Health and Safety Executive. (2015) What is a risk? Available from: http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/faq.htm [Accessed 18th February 2015]. • Barton, B. (2007) Safety, risk and adventure in Outdoor Education. London. Ebook. Available from: https://capitadiscovery.co.uk/worc-ac/items/162559. [Accessed 11.2.15]. • Dickson, T., Chapman, J. & Hurrell, M. (2000) Risk in Outdoor Activities: The Perception, the Appeal, the Reality. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education. [Online] 4 (2). Available from: https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-1229136821/risk-in-outdoor-activities-the-perception-the-appeal [Accessed 10.2.14]. • Gill, T. (2010) Nothing ventured nothing gained. Balancing Risks and benefits in the Outdoors. [online]. Available from: http://www.englishoutdoorcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/Nothing-Ventured.pdf [Accessed 03.10.15]. • Little, H. & Wyver, S. (2008) Outdoor Play. Does avoiding the risk reduce the benefit? Australian Journal of Early Childhood. [Online] 33 (2), Available from: https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-181673299/outdoor-play-does-avoiding-the-risk-reduce-the-benefits [Accessed 10.2.15].