Law And Regulations Of Health And Safety In A Workplace

Legalisation is a law, which has been produced by a governing body in order to regulate an action. A legislative factor relates to making or enforcing the law. There are a number of different legalisations that impact in health and safety within sport. One of the legalisations is Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) this legalisation sets out the general duties that employers, many self-employed people and those in control of the premises have towards their employers and others that can be affected by their work activities, (customers and clients). There are many principles within health and safety and these consist of to secure the health, safety and welfare of people at work. To protect people other than those at work against risks of health and safety arising from the activities of people at work. To control the handling and storage of dangerous and hazardous substances and to control the emersion into the atmosphere of noxious substances from the premises. The role of the employer is to protect and safeguard the welfare of people at work as well as non-employers.

All staff will go through training to learn the risks and further knowledge, this will minimize the amount of injures and hopefully prevent them from happening if staff well taught about them. The term ‘reasonable and practical’ is what is expected from people in work to be responsible for safeguarding meaning in any situation you must make your own judgement before taking a course of action, you must carefully consider all the options thinking about the consequences that would happen as a result. During the sport of rugby before entering the pitch you must ensure you are wearing the correct kit, for example wearing a gum shield to protect your teeth and wearing a scrumcap to stop any major or serious head injuries, if these safety precautions are not taken seriously it may result in major injures of the head and getting concussion. Before entering the pitch if the coach does not follow these seriously they could get fined or if having concussion will mean a player will not be allowed to play for a minim of 23 days.

Another legalisation is Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH, 2002) this legalisation includes all mixtures of substances classified as dangerous chemicals but these are often known to be hazardous in the workplace. Often these are used directly for example in a swimming pool as there is chlorine used, these have to have often checks to ensure they are safe for when the public enters the swimming pool, in public leisure centers tests are checked by the HSE while in private leisure centers there is a responsibility for the Environmental Health Officer to take random bacteriological tests. This also occurs in the marking out of football and rugby pitches where white paint is used to mark out the pitch. Hazardous substances are all substances or mixtures of substances that are known to be dangerous to health such as substances used directly in work activities for example, adhesives, paints and cleaning products. Substances generated during work activities, for example soldering and welding. Naturally occurring substances for example grain and dust and biological agents for example bacteria and other microorganisms. The COSHH regulations can be enforced by following an eight- step process. Firstly to undertake a risk assessment, then deciding what precautions are needed, after that do what is practicable, following that ensuring that all control measures are maintained to a high standard (staff training), ensuring there is monitor exposure (meaning measure the concentrations of hazardous substances), to carry out health surveillance, prepare for accidents and emergencies and finally ensure all staff are correctly trained, supervised and informed. During sport, ensuring there is chlorine in the swimming pool is important because it keeps the bacteria out that can often be hazardous to humans, the correct amount of chlorine is also important as it may irritate someone’s skin if there is too much of it in the swimming pool.

Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations (1981) require that in order to provide first aid to their employees who are injured or become ill at work, employees must have adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel. The main issue at work is not whether the injury or illness has been caused in the workplace, the importance is that they get immediate attention or to call an ambulance in serious cases. The workplace should make strong arrangements in serious cases like this as it can save lives and prevent minor injuries becoming major injuries. The regulations also state than an organization must provide First Aid equipment, including first aid boxes, a list of controls, their locations in the building on a board and a resuscitation kit if someone becomes unconscious and a liability to stop breathing. A First Aid room specifying the size, location and the design of the room this will be important to be stuck on the outside of the door so people know how to contact the First-Aiders and inside the room should be a large medical couch with space either size to carry out a procedure, washable surfaces, heating and lighting in the room, clean, tidy and assessable work surfaces for the First-Aiders to help out injured or ill patients. The First-Aiders require any necessary training programs and other First-Aid training appropriate to the particular circumstances of your workplaces, a list of those people who have received a certificate from an authorized training body will only be valid for one year before completing the training to carry out procedures again. An example during a sport would be in the gym making sure the appropriate weight is being lifted preventing an injuries and assessing the risks if this was to happen.

Fire Safety and Safety of places of Sport Act (1987) this legalisation was brought into effect as a result of the Popplewell Inquiry, which examined the safety of sports grounds following the devastating fire at Bradford City Football Club in May 1985 at which 56 people died. During the Popplewell Inquiry, the three main potential hazards at a sports ground were risks of fire, structural failure (no fire exits, not open air stadium) and crowd control (there was too many people in the crowd to be controlled in a big accident) The legalisation should be able to cater for grounds whereas not all three elements were present in this situation. After this awful incident that occurred on the football pitch, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Cricket were the three spectator sports in which demonstrated the risks for which a legalisation had to be framed. After this the Popplewell Inquiry recommended that a sports ground holding any more than 500 spectators will be held under the name ‘Fire Precautions Act’, meaning that all stands will be known as a ‘regulated stand’ as it will accommodate for 500 or more spectators. This act is split into 5 main parts- The fire safety, the safety of sports grounds, the safety of stands at sports grounds, indoor sports licenses and miscellaneous and general section relating to fees and exemption. During sports this is important as during a big game, for example England vs. Wales Rugby the stand will be full so it is important to know fire safety and the fire exits in the sports ground otherwise there will be many spectators lives endangered.