MIDSOMER NORTON LIFE
35
HEALTH & SAFETY
FOR OUR COMMUNITY S
ay the words ‘Health & Safety’, and you may say you believe we now live in a world where it has gone mad! However, this is an important issue for our community groups regarding regular activities or major town events to ensure that people are safe. While the media is full of stories of ‘silly bureaucrats’ introducing rules and even laws to make ordinary people’s lives more difficult the actual figures make interesting reading when it comes to the workplace. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures show that between April 2013 and March 2014 in Britain 133 people died in workplace accidents - 17 less than the previous year, 42 less than 2010/11, 46 less than 2008/09 and the lowest number since records began. All this equates to one of the best safety records in Europe. Would we really want to go back to a culture of safety that produced the Norton Hill Pit Disaster in 1908? In any case, Health & Safety for community events is surely good practice. Phil West, who chairs the Midsomer Norton Fayre Committee, is a retired Police Inspector who specialised in major incident and big event training. He is now bringing this experience to the town’s events. In the past he has carried out the risk assessment for training in aspects such as dealing with petrol bombing or managing large crowds. He has also taught command principles to senior police officers at major events and incidents. This gives him an interesting perspective on health and safety on the ground in Midsomer Norton. “The whole issue of health and safety doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive or take up lots of time. At its heart, it’s all about taking reasonable steps to prevent accidents happening and it’s
founded on common sense and preparation which people have been doing since time immemorial”. “Take the Town Fayre for example, which is a preplanned event that should run according to a prearranged schedule. As Chair of the Committee for an event which attracts thousands of people, it’s important to have a clear plan - who’s doing what, when, where and how. We meet every month of the year to plan the event. This makes it possible to consider things that might potentially cause an accident and prepare for them in the form of a ‘risk assessment’. Now, these two words fill people with dread but think about any simple job in the home we embark on – surely most people mull it over beforehand and check they have the tools, the materials and generally how not to hurt themselves or others. On a big event like the Fayre, it’s pretty much the same. That said when we are running an event with so many people involved having pre-empted as many issues as we can means we are more able to deal with the unexpected incident. So, for example, having First Aiders on hand means we are ready to deal with the predictable such as someone being taken ill at the event. However, if at the same time a market stall collapsed, we could focus all our efforts on this”, said Phil West. At community events there is also a role for the public to play as events in Midsomer Norton are run for the community by the community. So, it’s really important that attendees at M-Fest, for example, put their empty drinks bottles in the bins provided rather than simply dropping them or worse still smashing them on the street, creating a hazard. It’s a small contribution but an important one.