The Health and Safety at Work Act applies to more than businesses offering paid employment. Voluntary organisations, such as sports clubs, are also required to meet the legislation’s sports health and safety standards.
What should you do to bring your sports club or organization up to code? Here’s a brief overview of what should be done to stay current with the law and ensure sports health and safety standards are maintained.
Ensure Safety Applies To Everyone
Every health and safety policy your club adheres to needs to cover everyone who engages with your organization, not just those who work in it. For sports clubs, this means anyone who joins your club to exercise and/or play.
Educate Your Staff on Sports Health and Safety
Be they paid employees or volunteers, everyone in your staff should be involved in your club’s health and safety training. They will be your best assets when it comes to recognising and addressing workplace hazards. Ensure everyone is familiar with your policy, has access to your health and safety manual, and has undergone all necessary training.
Prepare Your Coordinator
People will go to your club’s coordinator whenever there’s an issue. This should apply to workplace hazards, injuries, and emergencies as well. Your coordinator should have specific and regular training to handle these situations. Likewise, your policy should stress the importance of communication between staff and the coordinator to ensure any issue’s fast resolution.
Maintain All Equipment
A cornerstone of good health and safety training is regularly checking the state of the equipment you use. For sports clubs, this could mean pads, rackets, balls, and even the area you use to play. Regular recurring checks can prevent accidents and injuries in the future.
Record All Hazards and Accidents
Reporting incidents is only part of proper procedure. Establish a method for reporting any and every incident for future reference. This includes seemingly small, quickly resolved things and incidents that didn’t result in harm or injury.
You can use records like these to shape your club’s health and safety training. In the unfortunate circumstance in which someone takes legal action against the club, well-maintained records will provide evidence of what your staff has been doing.
Learn to Recognise Unsafe Behaviors
Suppose you hire an experienced health and safety consultant to help you shape your club’s safety policies. In that case, you’ll end up with a comprehensive plan that precisely follows NZ health and safety legislation.
However, simply having a plan won’t prevent accidents caused by human error. Someone participating in your club’s activities may unknowingly act in a way that goes against your policy and puts themselves or someone else at risk. Your staff should be proactive in recognizing such dangerous behaviors and learn how to intervene and prevent them. Comprehensive health and safety training for your employees is a must.
At Hastrak, our health and safety consultants perform on-site audits, as well as remote training and consultation for you and your employees to ensure you have all the tools you need to run your business safely and follow current NZ health and safety guidelines.
Get the Right Insurance for Your Club
Give your insurance advisor a copy of your health and safety policies, as well as a complete overview of the club’s activities. You may require additional coverage to protect yourself and the club as much as possible.
Hastrak knows Sports Health and Safety
Don’t second guess your club’s standing with NZ health and safety laws. Let HasTrak’s team of expert health and safety consultants give you a comprehensive analysis of your current workplace hazards and safety issues.
We’ll work with you to identify trouble areas and develop a personalized company policy to fit your unique needs. Check out our free health and safety guide today, and get in touch with us to see all that our team can do to bring your club up to NZ safety standards.
