Health & Safety Risk Assessments
For Risk Assessment templates see: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/for-teams/health-safety/
First Aid at Morris Events
This information is to help teams that are organising days of dance and other similar events. It is based on the Purple Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Music and Other Events, which is published by the Events Industry Forum (EIF) to help people organising a wide range of events. The full Purple Guide covers outdoor events from music concerts to country fairs to folk festivals. It contains a large amount of detail, which may not always be relevant to smaller events. Unfortunately, the Lite version of the guide, intended for people running modest scale events, includes very little information about medical support at smaller events, so most of this guidance is based on the full Purple Guide.
The basic requirements
Legally you do not have to provide any first aiders, but it is definitely good practice to do so. When you are organising an event, you must consider the safety and wellbeing of everyone who may be involved or affected. People expect first aiders at events, even small ones. And we are sure that anyone organising an event will want to be able to help anyone who gets injured.
For smaller community events such as days of dance, the Lite guidance says that the minimum that should be provided is a qualified first aider. It advises organisers to assess the risks and put an appropriate level of cover in place.
Do you need to provide more than the basics?
You need to base your decision on a risk assessment of the event. The minimum of a first aider will be enough for many events, but higher risk events need more. Your risk assessment should consider: the nature of the event, the duration, the number of people attending, the age profile, the activities, and the site and environmental conditions.
The Purple Guide is intended to help you assess the risk. It includes five ‘tiers’ of events which are used to determine what level of cover is required. The lowest, Tier 1, is intended for the smallest and simplest events. The indicators for a Tier 1 event are:
- duration of a few hours or less
- fewer than 500 attendees
- no or minimal alcohol consumption
- no or minimal recreational drug use
- no activities with a risk of injury
- hospital referrals very unlikely.
Most of these will apply to most morris events. The two that might not apply are those about alcohol consumption and activities with a risk of injury. But if you have not had problems in the past and do not expect to get problems due to people drinking or due to dance-related injuries, then it is reasonable to decide your event will be Tier 1.
Tier 1 Cover Level
Events in Tier 1 can usually be safely covered without a healthcare professional or an ambulance in attendance. The recommended cover is:
- a suitable first aid kit and someone able to use it (i.e. a qualified first aider)
- knowledge of where the nearest defibrillator is, and how to access and use it
- appropriate, identified people who know how to access emergency assistance.
It is good practice to provide this level of support at any morris event and it should not be difficult to organise. If you do not have a first aider in your team, ask people coming to the event whether there will be any first aiders. If necessary, find out whether there will be any first aiders where the event is being held. Shopping centres often have first aiders and any pharmacy should be able to help in an emergency.
Defibrillators: if you do not know where your nearest defibrillator is, use Defib Finder https://www.defibfinder.uk/ If you enter your postcode or town, it will tell you where the ten closest defibrillators are. See the section below about CPR training for more information on how to use a defibrillator.
Tier 2 Events
If any of the indicators listed above for Tier 1 do NOT apply to your event, it may be a Tier 2 event. The Tier 2 indicators are:
- duration of more than a few hours but no longer than a day
- up to 2,000 attendees
- social drinking of alcohol
- no more than isolated drug use
- low risk of illness or injury from activities
- hospital referrals unlikely.
Tier 2 applies to bigger morris events, such as regular events that attract spectators, or if there is a significant risk of injury from the activities or where alcohol consumption may be a problem. These events require:
- a nominated lead responsible for the medical support service
- supported first responders or healthcare professionals (such as a paramedic)
- one or more ambulances with suitably qualified crew, if hospital transfers are expected.
You can provide this level of cover by engaging a healthcare organisation who provides event first aid cover. There are many organisations who do this, usually at a reasonable cost.
Larger Events
If you are planning an event that is larger or with more significant risks than Tier 2, please contact Sally Wearing for more guidance.
First Aid Training
The Morris Federation recommends having at least one, if not more, trained first aiders in your team. General training is best, as the activity involved influences the types of injury that may happen, but not how to treat them. First aiders need to be trained to treat ill spectators, not just injured dancers. For this reason, we do not recommend specialist training such as for sports.
As well as being useful for morris events, first aid is a valuable life skill to have. You may already have some trained first aiders in your team, for instance people who have been trained by their employees.
Training suppliers: there are many organisations, both voluntary and commercial, who provide first aid training, so you should be able to find a suitable local supplier. The three voluntary aid societies recognised by the UK government are St John’s Ambulance, British Red Cross and, in Scotland, St Andrew’s First Aid. Some suppliers will provide onsite training courses if there are enough (up to 12) people to train, so you could consider organising a course with local teams in your area.
Training courses: there are many available, from a few hours to three days. We recommend a one-day course. The most widely offered is Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW). This should be sufficient for everything that a morris team may have to deal with. The minimum suitable duration for morris teams is four hours, for instance the First Aid for Adults provided by the British Red Cross. If you choose a shorter course, make sure that it covers injuries such as broken bones, strains and sprains, as some omit these.
Requalification: ALL first aid training needs to be repeated at least once every three years, so do consider this when choosing a course.
Online courses: we do not recommend online training. First aid is best learnt at a practical, hands-on training course.
CPR Training: as well as trained first aiders, we recommend encouraging as many people as possible to get basic training so they know what to do if someone has a cardiac arrest. Unlike general first aid, it can be possible to learn the basics of CPR online. The British Heart Foundation provides free online training, RevivR, that takes only 15 minutes to complete. It includes how to use a defibrillator. This training is NOT an alternative to learning first aid but is worth completing. It should also be repeated regularly.
First Aid Kits
If you wish to make up your own first aid kit for morris events, there is plenty of guidance available online, for instance from NHS Wales, St John’s Ambulance, First Aid for Life, and the HSE. Start by thinking about what type of injuries might occur due to your style of dancing. Sprained ankles? Grazes from falling over? Fingers bashed by sticks or hands cut by rappers? That will help you decide what you need.
But it is probably easier and cheaper to buy a ready-made kit. Look for ones that comply with the relevant British Standard, BS8599. This is not a legal requirement but indicates that the contents should be suitable for most circumstances. There is a wide range available, but a universal kit is probably the most suitable. Remember that you need to be able to carry it around easily.
If you wish, you could supplement your kit with other contents that morris dancers may need, such as an instant ice pack for sprained ankles or pulled muscles. If you have a first aider in your team, ask them to consider whether anything else is necessary.
Remember to check your kit regularly. Some items, e.g. sterile dressings, have expiry dates. And you need to make sure you replace anything that is used.
Purple Guide & Purple Guide Lite
These cover all aspects of health, safety and welfare at outdoor events, not just medical support. Access to the two Purple Guides is only available by subscription: £10 plus VAT a year for the Purple Guide Lite or £50 plus VAT a year for access to both guides. See https://www.thepurpleguide.co.uk/
I subscribe to both guides, so do let me know if you need further guidance on medical support or on any other health and safety related topic relating to morris events.
Contact details
Sally Wearing, H&S Advisor
Last updated: May 2026
