Brodsworth Hall Croquet Club

Brodsworth Hall Croquet Club

Health & Safety Assessment 2017

1 - HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY

Brodsworth Hall Croquet Club plays its croquet in the grounds of Brodsworth Hall. The Hall and Gardens are owned by English Heritage and are regularly opened up to the public. The Club does not have a clubhouse. It uses the Hall’s car park, visitor centre, public toilets, tea rooms and croquet lawns. The Club also uses the former Ice House to store its croquet equipment (mallets, balls, hoops, ropes, tables, chairs and gazebo) during the season and one of the Hall’s cellars during the off season. The Club takes Health & Safety seriously and the club’s aims are listed below.

To provide and maintain safe and healthy conditions for playing croquet at Brodsworth Hall
To provide training and instruction to enable members to use the facilities safely and efficiently.
To make available, as necessary, protective equipment and safety devices and to instruct and supervise their use.
To maintain a constant and continuing interest in Health and Safety matters including Accident Prevention and Safe Working Practices.
To impress a Duty of Care on all members of the Club

2 - HAZARDS

The Hall has its own Health & Safety policy to cover all the buildings and the gardens. The Croquet Club’s Health & Safety policy will need to link into the Hall’s Health & Safety policy. The following hazards have been identified as possible hazards which concern the Croquet Club directly.

CHEMICALS: / Pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, cleaning fluids, wood preservatives.
DISEASE: / Tetanus, dermatitis, Weil's disease, infections from animal faeces.
PLANTS: / Allergies from handling plants and puncture wounds from spines and thorns.
FALLS: / Tripping over hoops, balls, boundary ropes or lawn edgings, and falling down cellar steps. Walking over uneven ground to access the Ice House. Slipping on the lawns in wet weather.
IMPACT: / Tree debris, misdirected croquet balls, misdirected croquet mallets, heavy hand tools.
MANUAL HANDLING: / Back injuries when moving equipment and furniture to-and-fro from the Ice House and lawns in the season and to the Hall’s cellars in the winter. Erecting and dismantling the gazebo.
FIRE: / Combustable materials in the Ice House.
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION: / Over exposure to strong sunlight

3 - RISK ASSESSMENT

The categories listed above are amplified in the table below

Task / Hazard / Hazard Type / People Affected / Risk / Worst Case / Present Control / Risk Evaluation
Use of Lawns / Chemical / Herbicides. / Members, / Possible / Fatal / Warning signs displayed if any harmful chemical treatments used on lawns or planting. Members to avoid any contact and to wash hands as a precaution / Acceptable
Use of Lawns / Disease / Puncture wounds, ingestion, infection from animal faeces / Members, / Possible / Fatal / Members to avoid any contact with grass and to wash hands as a precaution / Acceptable
Use of Lawns / Plants / Allergies & wounds from handling plants ie sap, spines & thorns / Members, / Possible / Injury / Members are advised to avoid touching plants when retrieving balls and to wash hands as a precaution / Acceptable
Use of Lawns / Falls / Slipping on grass and tripping over objects / Members / Probable / Injury / Provide safety advice during initial coaching sessions for new members / Acceptable
Use of Lawns / Impact / Misdirected croquet balls, misdirected croquet mallets. / Members, Public / Probable / Injury / Provide safety advice during initial coaching sessions for new members and monitor progress / Acceptable
Use of Lawns / UV Radiation / Short and long term damage to the skin. Melanoma. / Members / Probable / Fatal / Members advised to wear appropriate clothing and to apply sunscreen. Free sunscreen provided in the first aid box / Acceptable
Setting up Lawns / Impact / Injuries when using hand tools / Members, / Possible / Injury / Provide safety instructions, safety devices and equipment / Acceptable
Setting up Lawns / Manual Handling / Injuries when moving croquet equipment & furniture to and from lawns and also the Hall cellars / Members / Possible / Injury / Provide safety instructionsfor lifting / carrying & provide wheelbarrows / Acceptable
Setting up Lawns / Manual Handling / Injuries when assembling and taking down the gazebo / Members, / Possible / Injury / Follow manufacturer’s instructions. Do not erect the gazebo when high winds are expected / Acceptable
Ice House / Falls / Ice House has no electric lighting and very limited natural light through the open door / Members / Possible / Injury / Battery powered lighting installed / Acceptable