Topic 3 - Legislation and Regulations for Specific Situations

Textbook pages 68–71

Learning outcomes

By the end of the topic learners will have:• An appreciation of legislation in specific leisure

situations• An awareness of the key intentions of the Health and

Safety (First Aid) Regulations, the• Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act and the

Food Safety Act.• An awareness of the key intentions of the Children

Act, Data Protection Act, and Working Time Regulations.

Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981

• Bumps, scrapes, cuts, burns, fractures and concussion are quite common occurrences within the Leisure Industry

• Customers want to know there are trained ‘first-aiders’ on hand as they take part in their recreation activity

• Organisations are required by the regulations to ensure that first aid provision is ‘adequate and appropriate’.

• Each leisure situation will have different requirements of adequacy and appropriateness – for a busy leisure pool, for example, you don’t just want a packet of plasters on hand!

• A risk assessment needs to take place to decide what first aid kit is necessary and how many qualified staff need to be on hand

Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981

• Locations and numbers of participants help to determine the cover which is needed

• Along the route of a marathon, for example, you are going to need many first aiders, backed up by ambulances and doctors

• Whereas, for a small amateur dramatics show, one first-aider and a first aid box, might suffice

• Wherever possible, a first aid room should be provided (or a tent in outdoor events) which is clearly marked. All staff should be informed of its location and the whereabouts of the first-aiders on duty

Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981

• For individually run classes – such as aerobics – the instructor may well be a first aider, but they should as a minimum carry a first aid kit

• Whatever the scenario, organisations must ensure (under the regulations) that there are always trained first-aiders on hand

• First aid boxes and kits which are taken away to matches or on activities need to be checked before going, and restocked after returning if any items have been used

• Quantities will vary according to how many people the box or bag is meant to cover and they will also vary depending on the nature of the activities to be covered

• For the working environment, the regulations give clear guidelines:– Contents should be checked regularly for date and adequacy– The boxes and bags themselves should be of a robust nature and clearly

marked– Dressings should be packaged so that they can be applied without the first-

aider touching the wound directly

First Aid Kits

Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987

Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987

• As a consequence of a number of football stadium and indoor event fires – e.g. Bradford City’s horrific stadium fire in 1985 – the safety of spectators became a major concern, in many cases because of old grounds having wooden stands and poor evacuation procedures

Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987

• The Safety of Sports Grounds Act of 1975 and the Fire Precautions Act of 1971 were modernised and improved to cover fire and safety at places of sport in 1987

• The most important provision of the 1987 Act is the requirement for any ground with a stand for more than 500 spectators to have a safety certificate either for small one-off events or regular large ones such as league matches

• The Football Licensing Authority was set up to monitor improvements and issue certificates, but much is done by local authorities now

Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987

• With the arrival of this new legislation many clubs decided it was easier to build new stadiums than modernise old ones. Derby, Stoke and Sunderland were some of the first to choose this course of action

• Fire Certificates are also needed by other types of leisure venue, such as night clubs, hotels and guesthouses, to ensure that they have proper provision for smoke, fire and evacuation situations

• Since 1999, risk assessments have had to be carried out by all leisure venues, so shops, theatres, museums and so on must carry out this process regularly.

• Non-compliance is taken as a criminal offence

Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987

• Fire and Evacuation Risk Assessment• Factors to be taken into account include:– Boxes or other obstacles (e.g. lockers) blocking

passageways– Frequency of fire drills– Whether there is fire safety training for staff who act

as evacuation controllers– Records of any new installations changing fire safety

considerations– The occupancy levels of rooms and spectator areas– Bottlenecks and the safety of assembly points

Food Safety Act 1990• This legislation requires providers to ensure that:

– Food produced is fit for consumption i.e. not contaminated or past its sell by date

– The food contents are clear, e.g. to help us know what the meat or fat content might be, or whether the food contains substances likely to cause allergic reaction in some people

– If food is genetically modified we are informed– Sourcing, preparation, storage and processing are done according to strict

hygiene guidelines– Handling, transport, packaging and presenting are all done according to strict

hygiene guidelines– All staff are required to be trained in food hygiene practices and gain a food

hygiene certificate

• The regulations are very specific in all of the areas above and prescribe what cleaning should be done in particular locations, what materials should be used and the frequency for staff, rooms, utensils and surfaces

Children Act 1989

The Act requires authorities (mainly local authorities) to ensure that:

• Adequate social services are accessible• People providing child care and minding are

properly qualified and certified• Information on child protection is circulated• Day-care facilities are registered and

inspected, e.g. crèches at sports centres

Children Act 1989• Police checks have also become more common for anyone working

with children (CRB and List 99)• Ratios of cover for children are set out, as are guidelines on types of

equipment which can be used, the records of which must be kept (an accident book, for example)

• Access for adults now has to be carefully controlled• The taking of images (photographs and images), which include

children is now more strictly controlled and so is the use of children’s images for advertising and other promotional activities

• Most schools, leisure clubs and youth groups have developed their own code of practice on giving out data on their members, and will not give out any personal details on children

Children Act 1989• The Football Association has a child-protection scheme

built into its coach education programmes – each club should have a child-protection person and clear codes for players, officials and spectators

• It also mentions (in the form of questions) some tell-tale signs and incidents that adults might see or hear, including:– What would you do if you saw bite marks or bruises on a child’s

body?– What would you do if a parent was shouting abuse at other

children in a match?– Do you know the background of the first-aider who attends

children at matches?– How would you check the credentials of coaches working at a

children’s football summer school?

Data Protection Act 1998

Data Protection Act 1998

• Other types of information captured on video and CCTV are also subject to the same conditions

• Leisure organisations which fall under the Act have to register their systems and purposes on the Data Protection Act Register

• They must also detail the sources they will use and to whom they will disclose the infromace

Working Time Regulations 1998• No worker to work more than 48 hours in any

seven days• Some opted out and there are some exemptions• Large impact on Leisure organisations – many of

which are open 24 hours a day, particular where shift work is involved

• Regular breaks are also a key focus• Adult workers are entitled to 11 consecutive

hours rest in any 24 hour period and at least 24 hours off in any seven-day period