Health And Safety For Community Groups

The phrase Health and Safety is daunting, and the vast range of regulations can be off-putting. But if you keep some simple principles in mind and keep thinking about how they apply to your group, its facilities and activities, then you should end up feeling reassured.

We're a voluntary group: does health and safety law affect us?

Yes it certainly does. Some people think voluntary organisations, community groups and charities are exempt from health and safety responsibilities because they don't have paid employees. But this is a dangerous assumption to make.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, there are two parts to the answer:

1. On one hand, several aspects of the Health and Safety at Work Act don't apply to those voluntary groups and charities which have no paid employees at all since nobody in the group would be legally responsible (and taking part in voluntary work is not what the Act means by at work);

2. But on the other hand, the group should still strive to apply the same standards as organisations with paid employees because all groups have a general duty of care towards their members, and even though regulations may not always be enforceable by law, working with the standards and responsibilities in mind is what is known as good practice.

Good practice is not just a fuzzy term meaning sensible behaviour, it is also a technical term for one of three approaches to reaching health and safety standards, as covered by H & S documentation, along with regulations and guidelines. Regulations are the strict measures enforceable by law, and the confusion arises because not every regulation is enforceable against voluntary groups and charities with no paid employees. However, the documentation on guidelines and good practice describes the standards that should be aimed for. If you're not certain about any aspects of health and safety, and how they affect your group, then contact your local Health and Safety Executive office to make sure (see Contacts).

So where do we begin?

If you've not thought about health and safety (and how it affects your group) before, then one of the simplest and most practical ways to start is to carry out a risk assessment. In basic terms, a risk assessment is an audit of the activities you carry out, the ways you carry them out, and the equipment and surroundings in which you carry them out. In most circumstances, a risk assessment should not be complicated (certain industrial locations like foundries or power stations need to conduct very strict risk assessments). The Health and Safety Executive gives advice on the five steps to risk assessment:

Step 1: Look for the hazards

Walk around your community centre, or the place where your project takes place, and take a fresh look at the items and actions that could cause harm (but don't get hung up on risks as small as paper-cuts, or things that would only happen in extremely unlikely and convoluted circumstances). Risks could involve the storage of chemicals like bleach, or tools like hedge clippers. Or they could simply involve using a computer, where the seating position, lighting, and other factors need to be considered. Talk to the other people in your group to see if they have picked up on other things. Any existing instructions of guidelines that you use may help you to identify some risks.

Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how

Don't forget that volunteers may not be fully skilled in the tasks they are undertaking. And try to think about the dangers that might not be so obvious to visitors to your site, or to children, rather than just to regular members of your group who've always known about the dodgy floor tiles in the corridor, for example.

Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or whether more should be done

What is the likelihood of each hazard causing harm? Can you do more to reduce the element of risk, or to eliminate it completely? If not, how can you control the hazard so that harm occurring is unlikely? In certain circumstances, it might be that you'll need to invest in protective equipment or training for the members of your group. Do any other people or other groups share the facilities that you use, and if so, how could that affect the measures that you put in place?

Step 4: Record your findings

Strictly speaking, only organisations with five employees or more are required to keep written records of risk assessments. However, it is wise to keep a simple record of the assessments, and to tell the other members of your group about the results. As well as reminding you to keep an eye out for particular hazards, a written record could help to explain what precautions were taken if an accident does occur.

Step 5: Review your assessment and revise it if necessary

Over time, the activities that your group takes part in, and the facilities and equipment that you use, may change. Some people might leave, and new people might join. So the risk assessment process needs to be reviewed regularly. It is also wise to review the existing precautions from time to time to see whether the precautions are still working effectively; or whether any improvements can be made.

Putting it back together

Once you have carried out your risk assessment, you will need to make arrangements for implementing measures to deal with the hazards that you identified. This could be in terms of making physical changes, or arranging for training. You should appoint someone within your group to help implement these measures (they shouldn't be expected to do everything themselves but should be the person to resolve any questions). In health and safety jargon, this person is called the competent person.

It is vital that any information you provide to members of your group is clear and unambiguous. That means any information arising from risk assessments; training on the proper use of equipment; simply making sure people know who in the group is in charge of health and safety issues; and information about relevant procedures.

What kinds of procedures need to be documented?

The most obvious procedure to formally put in place is a fire evacuation plan. You'll need to identify fire exits, routes to the exits, and a suitable assembly point for people to gather once they've left the building. How will visually impaired people or wheelchair users be able to evacuate the building? Do you have an attendance log which people (including visitors) sign on entering and exiting the site, so you'll be able to check that everyone has left the building safely and no-one is stuck inside?

These must be communicated clearly to all the members of your group, and you should bring them to the attention of visitors when they arrive. Once you've identified the fire routes, you'll need to make sure they're kept clear and unobstructed (this should be identified in your risk assessments). And depending on the facilities you use, you may want to invest in a fire alarm system or some smoke alarms. It is imperative that you test the fire evacuation procedure to make sure it works and is fully understood. Remember that if new people join your group, they will not have gone through a fire drill, so it is worth repeating the exercise at regular intervals (e.g. every six months). The same basic procedure can be used for any occasions that need evacuation, such as a gas leak and even flooding.

What other kinds of training might be needed?

Most people know how to deal with minor accidents. But let's stop and think about some of the worst kinds of accidents that could happen to people involved in your group's activities and projects. Would you, or anyone else in the group, know what to do if someone has a heart attack? What if they slipped and knocked themselves out? What if they accidentally drilled through a live electric cable? If your group doesn't already have someone who's been trained in first aid, then it's a wise and worthwhile investment. Organisations like St John's Ambulance can provide formal training in first aid. They recommend that even trained first aiders attend refresher courses every four years.

It needn't be the end of the world ….

Supposing that your group has carried out risk assessments and minimised the chances of accidents happening, there can still be occasions when disaster will strike. An evacuation plan, in case of a fire (or flood, etc), will help to reduce risk to the members of your group but it won't help protect the physical infrastructure of your community centre, or the work involved in your project. But with a few simple precautions, the long-term damage caused by fires and floods can be lessened.

Businesses that successfully trade in information understand the importance and value of their documents and data. They will make back-up copies of computer files, and keep copies of key documents off-site. And just because community groups don't aim to make a profit, they still have essential documents and valuable information. A fire or flood could destroy this information in an instant. Last year, the Environment Agency published a Flood Plan Checklist aimed at households, which offers some simple steps to minimise the impact of such events. Not all of the Flood Plan Checklist's steps are relevant to community groups. But most of them are. It suggests that people should keep a list of useful contact numbers to hand, including the emergency services and your insurance company. It suggests you should have a few sandbags or floorboards prepared to block doorways and airbricks (the flood-planning equivalent of fire extinguishers, which should be normally used to allow you to escape a fire, not to actually tackle a fire), and it suggests you make an emergency kit, including a torch, first aid kit and key documents.

But perhaps the most obvious first step is to take out an insurance policy. Aside from buildings and contents insurance, two types of insurance you should be aware of are Employers' Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance. Organisations that have paid employees have a statutory obligation (under the Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance Act 1969) to take out at least a minimum level of insurance. Employers' Liability Insurance will enable your organisation to meet the cost of compensation for injuries or illnesses that your employees face, whether caused on or off site. In contrast, Public Liability Insurance is voluntary, and it covers your group for claims made against you by members of the public, other groups, etc. If your group intends to hold events attracting visitors to your community centre or project site, then it is often a prudent move to take out a Public Liability Insurance policy. Talk with you local insurance broker, or an organisation such as Community Matters, to find out the best policy for your group's circumstances.

If you still find it all as daunting as before ….

Health and safety, and the related issues such as first aid and insurance, are complicated and loaded with jargon. The implications and legal consequences can be very intimidating. But your group should not try to deal with the issues on its own; talk with organisations like the Health and Safety Executive and ask their advice; and talk to other groups or projects that you know about to see what measures they have put in place.

Rather than thinking of health and safety as a slightly intimidating set of chores, by following through some of these simple steps you can think of it as a positive process which actually releases you and your group to get on with your day-to-day activities with much less to worry about.