Risk Assessment

Health and safety of volunteers

Despite the undeniable importance of volunteers to English sport, the health and safety legal obligations of sporting organisations towards their volunteers are less clear when compared with employees. Nevertheless they do have legal obligations towards volunteers. This fact sheet is intended to provide you with some basic information – it is not a full account of all duties and responsibilities and it is recommended that you seek further advice where needed.

The duty of care is a general legal duty on all individuals, sports clubs and governing bodies to avoid carelessly causing injury to persons. The system has developed over many years and it is relevant to all, regardless of the size of your organisation, its income or whether you have paid staff.

If any sports organisation asks a volunteer to carry out a task, which results in them injuring themselves or anyone else, the members of the club or governing body may be liable. No matter what activities your club is involved in, from lawn bowls to hang-gliding; you will have to consider the duty of care owed to your volunteers. Liability depends on establishing that the club/governing body failed to take reasonable care.

For example: a young volunteer working for a club was asked to check the cleaning chemicals for the swimming pool and was left unsupervised. He or she sustained a serious burn to the skin. The club could be held liable if they failed to train or supervise the volunteer in the safe use of the chemicals. The court may decide that leaving an inexperienced young person in charge of substances that are potentially hazardous is unreasonable. The notion of duty of care needs to be considered in all aspects of a club’s activities.

A duty of care can arise in many ways, some of which may not always be obvious, such as:

loaning equipment to others
fundraising walks, events and sponsored runs
hosting tournaments and competitions

selling food at events

Health and safety law lays down your duties to your employees. The law also imposes further responsibilities on you as an employer with regard to people not in your employment, such as volunteers and other members of the public, who may be affected by your activities.

Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, imposes a duty on every employer "to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment, who may be affected by their undertaking, are not exposed to risks to their health or safety" and "to give to persons (not being their employees) who may be affected in a prescribed manner information as might affect their health or safety."

This generally means that sports clubs and/or governing bodies, which have both employees and volunteers, have a statutory responsibility not to harm or damage the health of volunteers through their involvement in the activities of that club/governing body. Clubs/governing bodies may also have a responsibility to carry out risk assessment which may require volunteers to be provided with information and training. This would depend on the activities.

For example, if a volunteer working with a wheelchair basketball team is expected to assist the transfer of heavier players from one wheelchair to another, you may have a duty to supply the volunteer with information and training on the correct manner and technique of lifting to enable the volunteer to lift the player safely, and to know when not to lift but to seek assistance. However, if a volunteer was selling refreshments at a competition, training may not be necessary. A risk assessment would determine what level of training is required, if any (see risk assessment).

A recent case highlights the need to take these responsibilities seriously. A young child was hospitalised after daubing himself with a paintbrush left in a toilet of a cricket club. The executive members of the club were fined £8,000 between them, for breaching health and safety regulations.

Health and safety of volunteers

A duty of care can arise in many ways, some of which may not always be obvious, such as:

loaning equipment to others
fundraising walks, events and sponsored runs
hosting tournaments and competitions
selling food at events

Note:

If your club has no employees you are not obliged to have a health and safety policy.

This information sheet is intended as a general guide based on legislation at the time of publication. Neither the sponsors, its staff nor the authors can accept liability for any loss arising as a result of reliance upon any information contained herein. Readers are strongly advised to obtain professional advice on an individual basis.

Further Information from the following:

The National Centre for Volunteering

Regent’s Wharf , 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL Tel 020 7520 8900 Fax 020 7520 8910

Email: Volunteering@thecentre.org.uk Web site: www.volunteering.org.uk