Health and Safety Policy

Section A – General Statement of Policy

“Our policy at this Club is to provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions, equipment and systems of work for all our members and visitors and to provide such information, training and supervision as they need for the purpose. We also accept our responsibilities for the health and safety of other people who may be affected by our activities. The allocation of duties for safety matters and the particular arrangements that we will make to implement the policy are set out below.
The policy will be kept up to date, particularly when the Club’s facilities and activities may change. The policy and the way in which it is operated will be reviewed each year.”

Responsibilities:

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1. The Club Committee have the overall and final responsibility for health and safety at the Club.
2. The House Chairman is responsible to the Management Committee for the safety arrangements within the Club.
3. Others responsible for specific areas:

a. Safety Training - Vice Commodore
b. Safety Inspections - House Chairman
c. Investigating accidents - Vice Commodore or Rear Commodore
d. Monitoring maintenance of plant and equipment - House Chair and or Bosun
e. In respect of all the above for organised training sessions - Training Officer and Chief Dinghy Instructor.

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4. All employees and members have the responsibility to co-operate to achieve a healthy and safe workplace and to take reasonable care of themselves and others. They should also bring to the attention of any of the above suspected hazards that they consider are not covered by Club safety procedures.

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Section B – General Arrangements

Accidents:

• The First Aid box is located in: The disabled toilet
• Appointed person responsible for the box is - House Chairman Training Officer / Lead First Aid person.
• Accident record book is located in: The reception area. Blank sheets to be kept in the First Aid Box.
• Completed sheets should be handed to a Committee member for placement in the Health & Safety Folder kept in the lockable cabinet in the reception area.

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Trained First Aiders: A list of First Aiders is displayed on the club noticeboard

 

General fire safety at the Club’s premises:

• Escape routes, fire alarms, extinguishers to be checked by – House Chair.
• Food preparation and food service area.
• Food safety and cleaning standards to be checked by – Catering officer
• Local advice and consultancy.
• Health and Safety Inspectors Office – Tel. No: 01924 305956

 

Emergency and other advice: 

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• In an emergency call 999 immmediately  

• NHS (Free from Landline or Mobile): 111

Section C – Managing hazard

Housekeeping and premises – to include:

• Cleanliness - House Committee / Cleaner

• Waste disposal - Refuse will be collected or swept up and bagged daily and removed from the premises at least weekly and not allowed to accumulate. - House Committee / Cleaner
• Safe storage and stacking - House Committee / Cleaner
• Checking equipment - House Chair
• Office safety - OOD Box – Sailing Chair
• Kitchen area - Catering Officer
• Committee boat - Bosun.

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Dangerous substances – to include:

• Stored petrol and oils: Petrol will be stored in accordance with the Dangerous Substance and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR). All oily and/or dirty waste and/or oily and/or greasy cloths will be kept outside of working hours in metal receptacles which have metal lids which shall be closed; and any other trade refuse will be collected or swept up and bagged daily and removed from the Premises at least weekly and not allowed to accumulate. - House Committee/Bosun.
• Cleaning materials: Cleaning materials when not in use will be locked away within the store cupboard.
- House Committee / Cleaner.
• Paints and antifouls: When not in use will be locked within the old generator hut. - House Committee.
• Use of protective clothing and equipment - House Chair.

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Safety in club speed boats – to include:

• Clothing and equipment

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From the beginning of November to the end of March the MINIMUM sailing wear should be a suitable wet/dry suit. An adequate personal buoyancy aid must be worn in all circumstances whilst on the water at all times throughout the year. Kill cords should be used at all times. – Vice Commodore.

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Accidents and injuries – to include:

Investigation and reporting procedures: All accidents to be recorded in the accident book located in the reception area. The book will be inspected at management committee meetings and an investigation instigated and it’s findings recorded.

Summoning medical help: If no local advice is available, the ambulance service are to be called. The nearest phone is at the Anglers Country Park or the Anglers Retreat Pub.

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Emergency Medical Equipment and First Aid Box

 

Defibrillator: The closest Defibrillator is situated at Anglers Country Park across the road from the club. This must only be used by a RYA First Aider.  Ensure you have called 999 immediately. If a RYA First Aider is not present at the club then follow the advice given to you by the Emergency Operator.   

Minor injuries and the use of the First Aid Box.

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A suitably stocked First Aid Box which should, in general, contain:

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• A leaflet giving general first-aid guidance (e.g. HSE leaflet)
• 20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings
• Two sterile eye pads
• Four individually wrapped triangular bandages

• Six safety pins
• Six medium sized wound dressings
• Two large wound dressings
• Pair of disposable gloves
• Tablets and medicines must not be kept in the First Aid box
• A log sheet must be completed when any items are used and how the minor injury occurred and put in the Health & Safety book.

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Working in Club boat storage and work areas – to include:

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• Manoeuvring club craft ashore.
i. Correct manual handling operations regulations to be adhered to.

• Mechanical and electrical appliance awareness and checks:
i. Electrical circuits tested three yearly by a qualified electrical

ii. Portable Appliance Tests (PAT) to be conducted annually.

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Use of club boats policy: 

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Demand led - Given the unknown level of member club boat requirement and the wide range of sailing experience, we will be ‘demand led’ in club boat use and allocation.

 

Soeren first contact - Soeren has kindly agreed initially to be the first point of contact if a new member wishes to use a club boat for the first time. He will arrange for an experienced club member to act as the ‘buddy’ to help get the new member started and the ‘buddy’ will support them through to competence.

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L1/L2 qualified - For new members, only those who are L1/2 qualified, and have therefore demonstrated a level of competence, will be allowed to use club boats, unless accompanied by an experienced club member.

 

Wednesday evenings / Sundays only - For new members the club boats will only be available on Wednesday evenings and Sundays initially. This is to ensure safety boat presence and easy access to the boat house. There can be more flexibility on timing if a new member is accompanied by an experienced member.

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Inform the OD - Members using club boats on Wednesdays or Sundays will let the OD know. The OD can mention in the briefing if there are any new sailors on the water and the safety crew can watch out for capsizes / issues.

 

Boat allocation - If appropriate, new members who commit to regularly sailing could be temporarily allocated a certain club boat for say 6 months, or until they buy their own. They can have the sail and spars etc to keep with the boat and will be responsible for ensuring it is maintained. They can only sail when safety cover is present i.e. Wednesday evenings / Sundays.
 

Experienced member use - Experienced members can also use club boats by letting Soeren know. Unless otherwise agreed, this also will only be on Wednesday evenings /Sundays to avoid the need to issue boat house keys.
 

No sailing alone - The club rule of ‘no sailing alone (2 boats minimum on the water)’ applies.
 

Reporting issues - Members can report any rig / boat issues to a committee member via email who in turn can report this to the Bosun’s for repair.
 

Safeguarding Policy – Safeguarding Officer

It is the policy of WRSC to safeguard children and young people taking part in boating from physical, sexual or emotional harm. The WRSC will take all reasonable steps to ensure that, through appropriate procedures and training, children participating in WRSC activities do so in a safe environment. We recognise that the safety and welfare of the child is paramount and that all children, whatever their age, gender, disability, culture, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, social status or sexual identity, have a right to protection from abuse.

Full details on how this policy is managed and executed are contained within the WRSC RYA Training Centre Operating Policy. The Safe Guarding Officer is responsible for ensuring that this policy is maintained at all times.

If you are unsure or have any questions surrounding the WRSC Health and Safety Policy Statement please contact one of the WRSC officers.

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Data Protection Policy – Membership Officer

1. About this Policy

1.1 This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about our members and instructors, how we use it and how we keep it secure and your rights in relation to it.

 

1.2 We may collect, use and store your personal data, as described in this Data Privacy Policy and as described when we collect data from you.

 

1.3 We may update this privacy notice from time to time. If we do change this notice, we will update the version date at the bottom of this document. For significant changes to this notice we will try to give you reasonable notice unless we are prevented from doing so. Where required by law we will seek your consent to changes in the way we use your personal information.

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1.4 We will always comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when dealing with your personal data. Further details on the GDPR can be found at the website for the Information Commissioner (www.ico.gov.uk). For the purposes of the GDPR, we will be the “controller” of all personal data we hold about you.

 

1.5 We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer to oversee our compliance with data protection laws as we are not required to do so, but our Honorary Secretary has overall responsibility for data protection compliance in our organisation. Contact details are set out in the "Contacting us" section at the end of this privacy notice.

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2. Who are we?

2.1 We are West Riding Sailing Club. We can be contacted at Wintersett Reservoir, Haw Park Lane, Crofton,
Wakefield, WF4 2EE, honsec@wrsc.org.uk

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3. What information we collect and why?