Astro Club Risk Assessments?

[Alan White]

How many Astro Clubs have Risk Assessment documents for Observing and or Public Outreach sessions?

If so any links please?

 

[Stu]

PM sent Alan

[Owmuchonomy]

I assume Stu has dealt with it.  We also have a CPP (child protection policy) in place for a belt and braces approach.  It is very unlikely that children will be without a carer or guardian/parent but sometimes the guide and scout groups that come can be a bit short on adult supervision!

[Stu]

I think the thing I would highlight is that the FAS has a range of documents available to help with this and other aspects of running a club. I imagine most clubs are affiliated to the FAS, it certainly helps in the provision of low cost PLI and also ensures you have a proper structure and constitution for the club which is generally a good thing.

[Tenor Viol]

I've been chairman/president and trustee of various organisations over the years, some astronomy related, others to do with music. If your society is a registered charity in the UK the requirements for the policies that you need to have in place have changed significantly in recent years. In the past, if you were an unincorporated society (which is what most societies are) provided your governance document (constitution) was in order and aligned to current legislation (there were several significant changes between 2005 - 2010) then that was about it. But...

The Charity Commission now places significantly more emphasis on the governance of charities and requires evidence not only the existence of various policy documents and processes, but also that they are subject to regular review. This followed on a high profile charity failure which hit the headlines several years ago. This has resulted in a blunderbuss approach to governance meaning that at the moment it has become heavier handed than it was in the past.

Some policies will not apply to most societies, e.g. those with regard to managing staff/employees. Some (management of assets) will apply to those who own some land and an observatory for example. Others apply to all, such as managing risk - and that includes financial risks as well as physical risks.

The Charities Commission web site is useful and contains a lot of documents to assist trustees with governance.

From my experience, I would suggest having a rotation of reviewing some policies each year over a three year cycle. Once they're in place it's not onerous to maintain them... but the initial creation can be time consuming.

If your society is not a registered charity, it is still good practice to put these policies in place to protect the society and its members.