Guidance and forms for Risk Assessments and Test and Trace

England Boxing is now able to provide collated guidance for how clubs should go about the management / minimising the risk and completing the risk assessment form prior to reopening.

It follows the issuing of return to boxing guidance on 10th July, in order to help clubs manage and minimise the associated risk in reopening as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.

It should be stressed that this is guidance only and that it’s the responsibility of each club and those in charge to undertake the appropriate risk assessment for your club.

Those running facilities are reminded that they must not open before Saturday 25^th July and should first consider ways to minimise the risk and complete a risk assessment form before their return, which is a legal requirement and will help provide protection by showing what consideration / actions you took prior to reopening should there be an issue.

Clubs should also remember that, once open, they must follow the guidelines and regulations that have been set out by England Boxing following consultation with Sport England and the UK government’s department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This includes the possible reintroduction of restrictions or the implementation of any local lockdown requirements.

The current Government guidelines on the return of indoor sports can be found here.

As detailed in the guidelines, the relevant advice is as follows:

COVID-19 is a public health emergency. Everyone needs to assess and manage the risks of COVID-19, and in particular businesses should consider the risks to their workers / volunteers and customers. As an employer or as an operator of sports or leisure facility, you also have a legal responsibility to protect workers, volunteers, customers and users from risk to their health and safety. This means you need to think about the risks they face and do everything reasonably practicable to minimise them, recognising you cannot completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19.

You must make sure that the risk assessment for your business and/or organisation addresses the risks of COVID-19, using this guidance to inform your decisions and control measures. You should also consider the security implications of any decisions and control measures you intend to put in place, as any revisions could present new or altered security risks that may require mitigation. A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork, but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace

England Boxing’s guidelines for a return to indoor facilities can be found by clicking here.

What is a risk management / assessment?

Risk management relates to the process of making decisions that will help to avoid and reduce the impact of unexpected / undesired outcomes – in this case as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

People need to be fully aware of what can go wrong and be there to implement strategies and plans to prevent them or at least manage them. To keep things running effectively these decisions need to be recognised rules in regard to the running of the club for everyone involved.

Clubs should be able to demonstrate that they have undertaken a risk assessment in relation to all factors that could present a hazard to health and potentially cause injury of death.

Having a risk assessment in place is a way of controlling the risk of accidents or injuries to everyone involved in your activities as well as, in this case, how to limit the risk of COVID-19. The risk assessment form can be used to record, identify, and assess risks in order to develop safe practices or flag further actions / rules etc needed to help control and manage those risks.

Why is a risk assessment needed now?

Aside from the fact it should happen normally, as a result of the COVID-19 there is an increased risk that needs to be reduced or mitigated. Carrying out a risk assessment is necessary in order to comply with health and safety law / requirements and help protect those running and involved in the club.

In relation to COVID-19, a risk assessment is needed to protect the health and safety of your members, participants, volunteers, staff and visitors as much as possible, whilst demonstrating a commitment and duty of care to them.

The main purposes of a risk assessment are to:

Identify any health and safety risks
Evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of existing control measures.
Ensure additional controls and practices are developed to help manage against any identified risks.
Prioritise further resources or training needed to ensure all activities are facilities are safe.
Provide your club or organisation with a record of all known risks and the mitigating actions.

Further details on producing a risk assessment are provided by Sport England and can found here.

Health and Safety Executive guidelines for managing risk can be found here.

You will also need to consider how you will communicate the change in practices, rules changes, cleaning procedures etc with your membership.

Risk assessment form

In order to help complete the risk assessment England Boxing have produced a risk assessment template form, with some of the issues that may need to be considered within your club, which in conjunction with the government guidelines and the Return to Boxing guidelines produced last week, can be used and adapted or added to as required. Those completing the assessment will need to ensure they enact and communicate the policies, processes or procedures adopted and detailed in the form.

You can access the risk assessment form here.

Please note other forms and templates are available, include the Health and Safety template which can be found here.

Upon completion, the form must then be stored securely with any supporting documentation so that it can be referred to in case of an incident.

Test and Trace

As part of the reopening there is an obligation to record who attends your club / training sessions. Details regarding this information, and a template, can be found here.

If you require further help

If Clubs are not sure about any aspect of completing a risk assessment, please email enquiries@englandboxing.org or seek assistance from your regional Club Support Officer.

England Boxing would like to thank Member Clubs for their continued patience and understanding.