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. The EIF has therefore published a Lite version for people running modest scale events that provides general guidance about the things that organisers need to consider when planning an event. Unfortunately, it does not provide much detail about medical support at smaller events, so most of this guidance is based on the full Purple Guide.
The basic requirements
Firstly, 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. People are likely to 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 every event, no matter how small, should at least be able to deal with minor injuries and have a plan for what to do it anything more serious occurs. So the minimum you should provide is:
- an accessible first aid kit
- someone who knows how to use its contents and how to get help when needed.
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 might be 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.
Do you need to provide more than the basics?
You need to base your decision on a risk assessment of the event. The minimum requirement will be enough for many events, but higher risk events need more. Your risk assessment should consider: the nature of the event, the number of people attending, the history of the event (i.e. any medical issues you have had in the past), the age profile, the activities and the environmental conditions.
The Purple Guide can 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 invent are:
- fewer than 500 attendees
- no or minimal alcohol consumption
- no or minimal recreational drug use
- no activities which have a risk of injury
- hospital referrals very unlikely
- duration of a few hours or less.
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 do 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 cover required is:
- a suitable first aid kit and someone able to use it
- knowledge of where the nearest defibrillator is and how to access 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.
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.
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:
- more than 500 but fewer than 2,000 attendees
- social drinking of alcohol
- no more than isolated drug use
- low risk of any injury from activities
- hospital referrals unlikely
- duration no longer than a day.
If any of these apply, then the event may be Tier 2. So if you think that there is a significant risk of injury from the activities and/or that alcohol consumption may be a problem, then Tier 2 applies. This may apply to bigger morris events, such as regular events that attract people coming to watch. These events require:
- a clinical lead, often a healthcare professional (such as a paramedic) supported by first responders
- one or more ambulances with suitably qualified crew, where indicated by the medical risk assessment.
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.
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: £12 a year for the Purple Guide Lite or £30 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
sallywearing@outlook.com
0118 946 3125 or 07939 488971
Last updated: May 2024
