Health and Safety 2024

District H&S Officer Andy Bottoms (Burton on Trent)

General

The basis for Health and Safety in Rotary District 1220 is to be guided by the RGB&I advice from the website, as in most cases, we do not need to duplicate information. The relevant forms can be obtained from the connections below (mostly word docs) or from the RGB&I Website which are mostly in pdf format.

The information available to all Club members involved in running events and necessitates diligence, to ensure they carry out their ‘duty of care’’, to all attending any event, and that they have taken reasonable care and planning, to ensure pertinent safety precautions are sensibly applied.

To assist with members, I have added reference documents below, alternatively go to https://rotarygbi.org/members/compliance/health-and-safety/ where complimentary guidance is also freely available.

If you need to contact me, I am available to provide answers or guidance for your specific events.

Introduction

Rotary clubs in our District carry out many and varied events which are successfully run, in a safe and competent way. The Risk Assessments which are created for these events keeps insurance costs low, but does require everyone involved to take care that this diligence continues. No RA – No Insurance!

This means ensuring that adequate risk assessments are carried out and followed through in order that Rotary maintains a positive image and that no participant, member of the public or any Rotarian suffers as the result of an accident, incident or illness caused by a badly run activity or event.

The main purposes of guidance are:

  • to interpret helping Rotarians to understand what the law says and the requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act;
  • to help Rotarians comply with the law;
  • to give technical advice.

This guidance is not compulsory, and Rotarians are free to take other action. But if they do follow guidance they will normally be doing enough to comply with the law and Rotary Great Britain and Ireland Policies.

Please refer to the RGB&I website entry  https://rotarygbi.org/members/compliance/

for current policies and guidance for all compliance matters.

In particular, insurance reference documents should be reviewed to ensure adequate cover for events.

Continue to organise and run the multitude of events that individual members and clubs run every year, and please ensure that they continue to be safe.

If in doubt seek advice – you know it makes sense.

Guidance

D1220

In general, the same health and safety standards should be applied to voluntary workers as they would to employees, exposed to the same risks…

HSE considers it good practice for “a volunteer user 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.”

It is essential, therefore, that District 1220 and its member clubs comply with the RGB&I Guidance.

RGB&I’s insurers would look at the level of compliance with these when considering any claims made against District or an individual Club.

D1220 is accountable to the General Council of RGB&I for the implementation of RGB&I H&S Policy in their area. D1220 is responsible for the H&S of their appointed officers, members (whilst employed in Rotary activities) and members of the public affected by their activities.

D1220 is responsible for:

  • Completing and maintaining a District H&S Policy
  • Appointing a District Contact (the District H&S Officer)
  • Where appropriate, ensuring that District Risk Assessments (DRAs) are developed and implemented with Control Measures identified
  • Ensuring that such DRAs are reviewed annually and that the results of reviews are sent to the RGB&I H&S Officer
  • Providing effective arrangements for communication and consultation with member Clubs and their members on H&S matters
  • Providing appropriate H&S Training for Clubs and their members in conjunction with the  H&S Officer (RGB&I HSO) and the District Contact.

District Contact (H&S Officer)

District H&S Officer (DHSO) is accountable to D1220 for the implementation of D1220 H&S Policy, and is responsible for:

  • Encouraging the appointment of Club H&S Officers (CHSOs) to consult with the DHSO and the RGB&I HSO in matters relating to H&S
  • Encourage the completion and maintenance of Club H&S Policies
  • Encourage the development of Club Risk Assessments (CRAs), their implementation and the identification of control measures
  • Encourage such Club H&S Policies and CRAs to be reviewed annually and the results of the review sent, via the DHSO to the RGB&I HSO
  • Providing guidance and assistance, where required, to Clubs within D1220
  • Ensuring that D1220 fulfils its responsibilities to RGB&I

D1220 Member Clubs

Each Club within D1220 is accountable to District 1220 and is responsible, through the Club President and Council, for:

  • The H&S of their appointed officers, members (whilst employed in Club activities) and members of the public affected by their activities.
  • Appointing a member to be responsible for H&S within the Club (the Club H&S Officer – CHSO)
  • Preparing and approving a Club H&S Policy and ensuring that it is reviewed annually
  • Preparing and approving Risk Assessments for all activities organised by the Club that affect members and others affected by the activities
  • Reviewing annually any RA that is prepared for an event that is repetitive.
  • Do Not “re-use old RA” without carrying out a review of the Event & Venue – things change!
  • It is recommended that Club H&S Policies are prepared or reviewed and approved at the first meeting of a Club’s Council.

Guidance and Assistance

The following documents are available for download to assist Clubs and Club H&S Officers, and to provide information about D1220 H&S matters

Risk Assessment Template District 1220 2024

Risk Assessment Matrix

RGB&I Risk Assessment-Reference-Guide

Pre_Event Venue Checklist V08

Template Event Plan

Template Emergency Plan

Incident Plan

RGB&I Health & Safety Guidance-March 2023

RIBI R2023 Confirmation-of-Insurance-v1

Share Button