Dangerous dancing
Monday, December 1, 2008 Over the weekend my 11-year-old daughter took part in a children's dance gala. I'm no expert when it comes to risk management, but I was nevertheless surprised to see not one, not two, not three, but FOUR volunteers from the St John's Ambulance charity sitting by the side of the stage.
I've been going to these events for several years and I've yet to see anyone get injured. On Saturday one girl's shoe flew off during a hip-hop routine but no-one was hurt. There may have been a few aches and pains or the occasional blister, but nothing (as far as I know) that required the presence of four trained first-aiders.
I'm not criticising the public-spirited individuals who give up their time to do this work, but I'm concerned that it is only a matter of time before their presence is compulsory. (Perhaps, for insurance purposes, it already is.)
Meanwhile it's a miracle that other potentially more dangerous activities (rugby, for example) are permitted at all.
PS. The St John's Ambulance website reports that "The Health and Safety Executive has announced the biggest changes to the first aid at work regulations for over a quarter of a century". Uh-oh.
Reader Comments (2)
Shoes are dangerous and should be banned, especially women's high heels.
Many events can't go ahead, due to insurance purposes, without a certain level of "first aid at work" qualified people present as designated (ie have no other role at the event) first aiders. The details are laid out in the "Purple Guide", and although are not compulsory legally, insurance would take a pretty dim view if events went ahead without the appropriate staff.
With regards to the four FAs present, as far as St John are concerned, members should almost always be present in pairs (unless in extraordinary circumstances). If the purple guide suggested two people (rather than four), then the other two might be "observers" (lacking the qualifications to practice first aid, but viewing what the organisation does) or supernumeraries (brand spanking new first aiders who shouldn't be let out on their own).