Club Health and Safety

[Steve H]

For your information
http://www.thumperclub.com/riskassessment.php

[guest27]

Looks like a Good idea

Thanks

R

[Steve H]

Looks like a Good idea
Thanks
R

Colin Hilliard should take the credit

[andy230]

Oh God  

First off, to Steve, Colin, and the others involved, a major thank you.  I know that this takes a lot of time, and energy, and this day and age is sadly necessary, in case someone's tent is erected over a pice of stoney ground, and they dont sleep well, and sue us.  Or Jethro farts, and someone's dog dies.

Or "something happens".  I know, no-one should get hurt, injured or worse on any club activity.  And EVERY SINGLE MEASURE must be taken to avoid such things.  But I suppose this covers our backs in the event of this.

This really does depress me.  It is now impossible to do anything, without stating that when crossing the road people will have done it via the green cross code!  (I had a little smile there, were you also steve?!)

I have had to do it for folk working in the lab with us.  There is a 10ft x 6ft refrigerated cold room we use, with a single sliding door.  Do you know, the jobsworth Estates manager insisted we put an illiminated "Fire Exit" sign above it??!!  It wasn't cheap!  I mean, if you can't get out of tiny room, you've just walked into, I think you probably shouldn't be out alone unsupervised, let alone working in a lab.  However, said jobsworth is very powerful man, and no lab work gets done unless he is appeased.

And we wonder why research is becoming so expensive??  Do you know if I write a grant for £100k of work (to a medical research funding body), it ends up costing 180k-190k to cover all this?! (admittedly other things too, but this is a major part).  Oh well.

But Colin et al, seriously, thanks for this, I admit its necessary, I just resent the fact that it has become so.  Rant over!

Thanks again, this club works so well, exactly because of folk putting in their own time, and money,

(my 2p worth!)

a

[Steve H]

This really does depress me.  It is now impossible to do anything, without stating that when crossing the road people will have done it via the green cross code!  (I had a little smile there, were you also steve?!)

Colin kicked this off a while ago, must admit my initial thoughts were probably less than enthusiastic, however having done one for the Baskerville bash I realised that it prompted me to think about simple things like providing a First Aid kit and Fire Extinguisher. So on that basis it was worthwhile.
There is currently one being done for Dent, hopefully we should be able to post this on the site before the Rally

[Andy M]

This really does depress me.  It is now impossible to do anything, without stating that when crossing the road people will have done it via the green cross code!  (I had a little smile there, were you also steve?!)

Colin kicked this off a while ago, must admit my initial thoughts were probably less than enthusiastic, however having done one for the Baskerville bash I realised that it prompted me to think about simple things like providing a First Aid kit and Fire Extinguisher. So on that basis it was worthwhile.
There is currently one being done for Dent, hopefully we should be able to post this on the site before the Rally

Simple, but well put together and well worth the effort. Thanks to Colin, Steve and the other guys who put the effort in.

On a lighter note. Should we perhaps include:

Reference to any water big enough for anyone to end up laid down in, even if it's only 3 inches deep: risk of getting cold.
Reference to any guard dogs likely to prevent members getting at the sheep: risk of bite wounds in unthinkable places.
Reference to the ale: Alchohol poisoning and physical injuries if they run out.

There must be more and I'll bet a fair few ROSPA won't have seen before!

Andy

[Steffan]

How does one say this without seeming churlish or not taking due account of all the work those responsible have put in..I don't know, so let me say first, thanks guys.

Frankly, it turns my stomach - it would seem that the only people that can be held responsible for their actions these days are those who have something to lose in a litigation suit. It almost warrants not organising anything beyond " I'll be camping at X if anyone is interested." It would seem that people need to be fully appraised of any risk they may run no matter how obvious, which probably explains why this island is sinking under the dead weight of CCTV and other forms of surveillance.

I'll stop now before I get too far off topic - and I am grateful that someone has taken responsibility for completing the task whatever I may think of the task itself

Steffan

[Steve H]

Has anyone read the 'exclusions' section on the insurance certificate ?

[The Kaiser]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the positive views on the subject of Health & Safety regards the Thumper Club.

I know it’s difficult to comprehend but I’m afraid it is a legal requirement and the Club needs to protect it’s self against litigation. Because if a claim was made against the club and it was found that the club was negligent regards H & S the clubs committee and the organiser/s of the event would be responsible. I know this has happed in another club in which I am a member of and caused a great deal of problems for the person that organised the event and the person concerned nearly lost their house over it.

I have a great deal of respect for the committee members of this club and the organisers of Thumper Club Events. They spend a great deal of their time organising things for us to enjoy and it is only fair for them to be protected against a claim that may be made against them. I have spent a lot of time liaising with a good friend of mine regards the H & S Documents and the Policy Statement to ensure it’s correct and covers the club’s requirements. So please make good use of it, I believe it is simple to use and I have enclosed an example for reference. If anyone needs help with the document please contact me and I will be pleased to help. Please remember if you organise an event for the Thumper Club you must have a copy of the RISK ASSESSMENT available on request at the event. It may be a good Idea to have it posted on the clubs web site so all attendees can see it prior to the event so please contact Steve Hayward.

In the near future I will compile a short document of guide lines for organisers to help them complete the Risk Assessment form and detailing what constitutes a club event and what is expected of them. This in no way implies rules it is for guidance only.

So thank you for your time in reading this and let’s enjoy the coming rally in Dent. I will be attending the rally next week as always, and will be available if anyone has any questions regards H & S for forth coming events. I will be easy to spot because I will be riding my Mandarin BMW R 1150 GS.

Best Regards

Colin Hilliard (The Kaiser)

[guest27]

So insurance excludes Bouncy Castles - or has a higher initial excess - bit small on my screen.  Mind it is a good policy as it excludes North America from "Worldwide" - so they are otherworldly after all.

Personally I find the litigation mentality we are getting into to be sickening - I love it when one of the vultures stops me in the street "Had an accident Sir - you could claim" - explain how I find their business distasteful - and also try to explain that I would not want to engage a law firm who suggests that an accident may have a person who caused it - if it has it is not an accident, by definition accidents do not have blame, incompetance does.

Risk assessment - I am however a fan of this, in that it helps you focus on what you need to do and what you do not.  Is there a chance that people will cross in a place of particular danger when there is a much safer alternative - if yes why not highlight it, sign post it etc, any of you who has been caught up in a fatal road accident investigation will know how it can ruin your weekend.  Have used checklists in the past too - great things - many think you are a mumpty for having a list with all the things you need to run an event on it - but there again, saves wondering where everyone is because the signs have not gone out - or as per some posters for a trotting even in PT at the moment - they have missed 2 of the 4 essential bits of info on an advert like these - 1. What, 2. Date, 3. Time  4  Where,  - They have What (Trotting) and date, but no time or location. - No contace details either...

So  again - thanks for the work done.

Oh as to not being able to get out of a room you have just walked into, do not know what is in there but explosions / loud bangs etc can disorientate real quick.  It is like only a total mumpty would aim for the car that has just pulled out on them - any sane person would head for the gap, so why do so many people hit the car?  Object fixation, disorientation, fight or flight shutting down the higher brain functions and all of the above.

Planning - there is a whole bunch of research that suggests that those people who plan for a risk have a better chance of surviving if that risk occurs.  I took part in a load of aircraft evacuation trials some time ago, the thing that we learnt from the trial is that the people who had looked at the situation when all was calm and worked out possible scenarios and how to act on them got out most every time, those who sat their heads in the paper / sand tended to 'die'.  The same is true in real situations, in aircraft evacuations those people who actually listen to the safety briefing - no matter how many times they have heard it before - are disproportionate in the people who get out, even more so those who have a plan of action.

The time for this club to worry about a potential risk at an event is NOT after some poor bugger has been a prat and felled themselves.  It is like first aid - you need to have done the work before the event as after is too late.

Question - have you ever wondered what you would do if you had a front end blow out?

R

[themoudie]

My thanks and commisserations to those of you involved in this. I do appreciate this having been done. Whilst working in the timber industry this has become a potentialy nightmarish part of the managers daily workload. Luckily, because I am 'lone working' I have to do my own, but not always worry about other parties and negligently 'didn't think' that it would affect my hobbies!

I shall be more wary in future. Some of the pedantic 'hair splitting' we get involved in with contractors and other 3rd parties would leave most people ready to feed the B*****d' through the felling head or chipper! If you go down to the woods today, your in for a big surprise!

Have a good time and look after yourselves.

My regards, Bill.

[guest18]

Question - have you ever wondered what you would do if you had a front end blow out?

R

Not wondered about it, done it for real...
I stayed upright but I really can't recommend it as a recreational pursuit

[themoudie]

As for the front end blow-out, like Smudge had one and don't wish to repeat the experience. Keep it upright if at all poss., don't fight the bars, keep your weight to the rear, gradualy ease off the throttle and steady everything on the back brake until you come to a halt. Clean underware!

A rear blowout whilst cranked over, at 30mph to take a right angled bend, with your wife as pillion is no more friendly experience. Again, get it up right, grab the clutch and apply front brake once upright. Following rider had kittens and was a horrible green/white colour! Maybe it was the Kawasaki he was riding.

May try some Goop in the tyres, the same as we use in the quads. Saves an awful lot of hassle when on the hill and loaded up.

Regards to you All, Bill.

[squirrelciv]

Had a rear end blow out, but luckily at 30mph and on the straight. Was a hot day and I'd been riding hard just before and I'm convinced it was the goo I had in the tube that attacked the patch. My theory was expanding goo getting under the patch and weakening the bond. Never had a patch fail before and this was my first time trying goo (put it in 2 days earlier in readiness for the national rally I was on)

Could just be paranoia but I've now just gone for heavy duty tubes instead.

[guest27]

So why the question on blow outs?

Well I guess we have all thought at some time or another about them, wondered what we would do - what we did.  What we could do to avoid them etc.  ie we have all been carrying out risk assessments and putting into place plans to react / act.  Just we have not called it that.  Ditto helmet, gloves etc.  Not the nanny state - just goos thinking.  I feel the same is true about the RA for club events - just so long as we do not get into the realm of assessing the risk as high and the danger of the out come as high for things that have no ddata to support them - ie crossing the road, chance of someone coming out of the pub drunk as a skunk and wandering across a road - pretty high I would think - depending on the people and the circumstance.  Outcome severity - busy road probably high, country lane high if something is coming along - low chance of it coming along. - act accordingly.

Chance of someone having a spacecraft decend and pluck them from their bike - causing the bike to plough into the rest of us on a run - unimaginably low.  Seriousness of outcome - pretty high if they have the beer.  No need to do anything as the risk is low.

We had a risk assessment done on our front drive by the Royal Mail - who claimed it was too dangerous to delive over.  Their assessment was that an accident was almost certain to happen and if it did itt would be threatening of life and limb.  But when asked how many deliveries they have made over the drive and how many accidents had happened - answer was 50,000 plus and none, they had to admit that they had not assessed the risk properly.

R