Health and Safety

It is important that any activity carried out by 41Club is safe and presents no risk to those attending. Having good Health and Safety procedures in place is an important objective of the Association and the overall responsibility for Health & Safety resides with the National President.

Safety is both important at Club Meetings and in particular at any event that involves the general public.

If the public are attending an event arranged by your Club, you, as organisers, have a duty of care to provide for their safety. 41 Club National Council recommends that you appoint a responsible member as ‘Safety Officer’ to consider the Health & Safety of everyone involved.


Prior to the event, the Safety Officer should carry out a ‘Risk Assessment’. This is an examination of each activity to see if it could cause harm to anyone. In that Assessment they should state what you are doing to reduce that risk.


The Safety Officer should assess if any hazards are ‘significant’ and whether the organisers have taken satisfactory precautions to help prevent injury to people.
If your event is to be held in a public venue e.g. a hotel, they will have their own Health & Safety Policy which will have been developed to protect their own employees and their customers. Ask to see this before entering into any agreement and check they adhere to the policy. Ask to see the Manager if you have any concerns.


The event organiser, with the help of the venue management, should announce instructions on how to evacuate the venue in an emergency. This is the responsibility of the event organiser – please ensure this is done


The Safety Officer for the event should check for any hazards before the event, and monitor activities during the event. In the event of any concerns they must report these to the event organiser.


Ensure that the event organiser or the venue manager take any concerns seriously and act upon any reported hazard.


The Health & Safety of our members at Club Meetings is also of concern. Prior to any dinner or speaker meeting, the venue should be checked for fire regulations, safety procedures and welfare arrangements including having someone available who is first aid trained. Where a club meets regularly at the same venue – an announcement detailing the evacuation procedures should be made every few meetings, however a check should be made with the venue management that there is no planned fire evacuation practise during the meeting.


Please keep written evidence of your Health & Safety Checks and Risk Assessments. These may be needed as ‘evidence’ at a later date. Should anyone become injured as a result of a 41 Club activity, evidence of ‘due diligence’ will be invaluable. Any accidents or safety incidents during a 41Club event should be reported to the National Secretary.


In today’s world of litigation, failure to have considered Health & Safety could negate any insurance claims. This is not a difficult undertaking, Common sense should prevail.


If you have any queries, please contact the National Secretary or the HSE website.


Relevant forms and the Association Health & Safety Policy are available to download.