Health and Safety Policy

Health and Safety Policy

Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 01:00) Written by Iain Monday, 21 April 2008 13:46

Malpas Young Persons Project is committed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its members, employees, volunteers and facility users, so far as is reasonably practicable. Its Policy is to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the environment and activities in which young people and adults participate are healthy and safe. In particular, the Management Committee will expect assessments of risk to be made for all activities where hazards arise and controls to be maintained to ensure that any residual risk is kept as low as possible.

Implementation

This policy is based on statutory obligations required of employers and public organizations and serves to protect the interests of young people and adults who may work with them. It relies on existing codes of practice that everyone must follow.  Where new risks arise, hazards will need to be identified by those planning the activities and means of eliminating risks or controlling them established. This process has three stages:
1    Consider how any harm could arise.
2    Decide how significant the resulting risk is by assessing the likely level of injury and the likelihood of an incident actually arising.
3    Introduce precautions to keep the residual level of risk as small as possible.

Note that this process does not make activities totally risk free and everyone involved   should be clear about this, particularly the parents or guardians of young people participating.

Codes of practice embodying previously assessed risks will be reviewed annually.

Responsibility

The Management Committee will ensure that staff, volunteers and users read, understand and conform to this Policy and the associated codes of practice.

Events involving serious risks that could lead to life threatening situations will be subject to approval by the Management Committee at the planning stage of the activity. This will include work and activities undertaken away from Malpas Young Persons Centre, especially where overnight stays are involved. This requirement will apply in particular to any “hazardous activities” as prescribed by the Project’s insurers (listed overleaf). In all other cases employees, volunteers and facility users will be expected to follow the existing codes of good practice already available, which are subject to annual review.


Referrals

Anyone with concerns relating to health and safety should raise them immediately with any of the volunteer supervisors. A hazard / accident report book will be held on the premises and its contents will be subject to periodic review by the Management Committee. A member of the Management Committee will be designated each year to deal with any problems over the working of this Policy but the overall responsibility for the implementation of the Policy rests with the Management Committee as a whole.

Hazardous Activities as defined by the Project’s Insurers.
Note: Activities on this list are not precluded but must be notified to the Management Committee at the planning stage for specific approval.

Abseiling
Boxing
BMX
Caving
Cricket
Diving with breathing apparatus
Dry slope skiing
Fencing
Football
Go-karting
Jet ski
Martial Arts
Metal/woodworking
Motor and motorcycle projects
Mountain biking
Mountaineering
Paintball guns and games
Potholing
Quadbikes
Rock climbing indoors and out
Roller blading
Roller hockey
Rugby
Scooters
Sea canoeing
Skateboarding
Surfing
Water Polo
Water skiing
White water canoeing
Wind surfing
Winter sports
Wrestling
Zip wire.