Our ‘duty of care will be to avoid carelessly causing injury to persons. It is also worth pointing out that if any sports organisation asks a volunteer to carry out a task which results in them injuring themselves or anyone else, the members of the club or governing body may be liable. Liability depends on establishing that club or governing body failed to take reasonable care.
We will need to consider what the chances are of an injury actually occurring because of the hazards (the risk) and then finally have measures in place to reduce the risks. This is called a risk assessment.
Risk assessment could be made of a coaching session. The equipment could represent a hazard if, for example, the goalposts are in poor condition or not secured. The control measure for this hazard would be to use good quality goalposts and to inspect them before they are used to make sure they are not damaged and are properly erected and secured. The weather could also present a hazard; if it is too hot players could get burnt or dehydrated. To control this risk we would make sure we have plenty of drink breaks and that players wore sun block.
The hazards resulting from the activities we’ve planned also need to be considered. Children could be injured, for example, playing small-sided matches if they wore inappropriate footwear or they didn’t wear shin pads but the control measures are obvious we will make sure everyone knows that they have to wear boots and shin pads. Players could also be injured as a result of foul play or poor technique, so the control measures here would include good quality coaching, making sure that children involved in competitive games are evenly matched in terms of size and ability and making sure that everyone plays by the rules.
It’s not hard to risk assess soccer activities. When finished, we will record our findings and review them periodically (and whenever one of your players suffers an injury) to make sure they’re still relevant.
The Disability Discrimination Act, 1994 (DDA) is the legislation that provides support and advice on issues relating to disability. The aim of this act is to ensure that there is no discrimination by employers and that no person will be treated less favourably than other members of the public unless such treatment can be justified. All service providers must make responsible adjustments to their environment to accommodate a person with a disability. E.g. changing the policies, practises and procedures that may discriminate against a person with a disability.
It is not always obvious that someone is disabled and generally you will not know if a person has a ‘hidden’ impairment, such as a heart condition or arthritis, when you first meet them. The definition of a disabled person used in the DDA covers a wide range of people. These include people with long term health conditions such as diabetes, people with progressive conditions such as multiple sclerosis and people who have been diagnosed with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis. People with learning difficulties, mental health conditions, mobility impairments or those who are blind, partially sighted, and deaf or have impaired hearing are also covered by the DDA. This is not all the disabilities covered so if you’re in doubt whether someone is covered by the DDA, you can contact the Disability Rights Commission helpline.
Some people who do not consider themselves as disabled may also be covered by the DDA. These would include older people, who can sometimes think of their impairment purely as a part of ageing.
There are many local access groups, which are made up of disabled people who want to improve the access in their communities, and these groups can often help with tricky problems or provide information on how other businesses have solved their access problems.
Many local authorities also have access officers who can give basic advice on access issues.
The Children’s Act 1989 is the legislation that protects children. This legislation states that anyone working with children must obtain clearance from the Police and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) before they can actually work with children. A person must be suitably qualified to work with children and be trained to recognise the signs of abuse. They must also be trained in the methods of dealing with abuse and in reporting procedures and referrals.
Therefore, whilst catering for various sports tournaments, every adult involved in the tournament should have had a CRB check approved, should have been on courses for abuse and should have the relevant coaching and teaching qualifications. There should also be a qualified social worker available and it should be made clear that no photography will be allowed.
Plans to outline Health and Safety procedures on the day to pinpoint help areas e.g.:
- The fire evacuation points.
- The St Johns Ambulance.
- Help Tent.
- Water supply point.
- Access to toilet facilities/disabled and able.
- Loudspeaker area for giving information.
Task 2
As sports development manager I have looked at the health and safety rules and procedures of two organisations – H.O.A.C and David Lloyd Leisure Centre, below is a summery of Health and Safety guidelines they have published.
H.O.A.C
H.O.A.C is a water sports and outdoors activity centre. “Safety is our number one priority; H.O.A.C is licensed by the adventure activity licensing authority and annually inspected and approved by the royal yachting association and British canoe union.
Fully qualified staff provides instruction and safety cover. This combined with on-going risk assessments and fully qualified staff ensures that our safety standards are second to none”.
All participants under 16 years of age must have written consent before tacking part in any of the activities. All water users must be able to swim 10 meters. An approved buoyancy aid and whistle must be worn at all times. Clothing suitable 2 activities musty be worn and foot wear must be worn at all times.
David Lloyd leisure centre
David Lloyd leisure centre is mainly an indoor multi-sport facility.
Fire safety
We recognise the risk to both staff and guessed from the rapid spread of fire. Fire detection systems and evacuation procedures are in place to reduce the risk further we have investigated the following measures:
- A rolling programme of fire surveys in major locations.
- Programme to improve fire safety at the design stage for new builds and refurbishments.
- Automatic fire suppression systems installed in the David Lloyd leisure saunas and open stove coals replaced and under-bench heating.
- Pub restaurant kitchen extract mesh filters replaced with fire resistant baffle filters and flame deflectors fitted to grills.
- Installation of inspection hatches in extract ducting systems to ease and improve cleaning regimes.
- Central contracts for deep cleaning of extract ducting established.
- Specialist fryer fighter extinguishers installed in restaurant kitchens.
Health and safety
Whitbread is frequently asked what its responsibilities are towards health and safety issues. The answer to this is simple.
Whitbread is a business that servers some two million people a week. Some 12,000 people use our premiere Travel Inn hotels every night. We serve some 3 million cups of coffee every month. Over 250,000 people have a David Lloyd leisure membership.
All of our businesses comply with, as a minimum health and safety legislation. Our customers are the key to our success and we cannot afford to treat them in anyway that might prejudice their enjoyment of our businesses.
The benefits of both organisation following effective Health and Safety rules are:
- Accidents are less likely to happen because of correct clothing and footwear.
- Having fully qualified staff ensures participants are less likely to get injured.
- Following fire evacuation procedures to prevent death or injury.
- Security, the safety and protection of children’s prevent abuse.
Evaluation
David Lloyd Centres are mainly catering for over 18’s and the activities are low risk therefore incidents of injury or abuse are minimal fire is a greater risk and fire safety should be paramount.
H.O.A.C has a higher risk of injury or abuse because of the type of high-risk water activities and they cater mainly for schools and youth groups (under 18’s)
All staff at H.O.A.C must have been checked by criminal records bureau and have obtained a C.R.B disclosure certificate.
Both organisations are very well respected and have good reputations their health and safety policies seem to cover their individual needs, Although David Lloyds are vague, on their Health and Safety guidelines.
No serious injuries or deaths have occurred at either centre due to poor health and safety, therefore the implementation of health and safety and its management is good.
Task 3
In addition, to displaying the playground, safety poster in all key areas of W.L.A. A copy of the poster in A5 should be sent home to all parents/guardians of pupils and a contract signed by parent/student agreeing to abide by these rules and in turn the School will monitor and enhance its health and safety procedures to keep students safe. W.L.A will review and evaluate its health and safety procedures to keep students safe. W.L.A will review and evaluate health and safety procedures every 3 months and any changes notified to parents and students by letter posted home and printed in newsletter and W.L.A website.
