Health and Safety Policy

HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY

Outdoor Tribe has no employees. Its activities are led by paid and unpaid, qualified leaders working with unpaid volunteers.

Although volunteers are not covered by UK health and safety legislation in the same way as paid staff, any organisation like ours involving volunteers has a legal responsibility and a ‘duty of care’ towards its volunteers.  The ‘duty of care’ is a common law duty to take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to others. 

We do everything we reasonably can to ensure that volunteers/service users do not come to harm whilst carrying out voluntary work or activities for or with us.  We do this in a number of ways, including the following:

Ensuring safe work locations

The vast majority of voluntary work is carried out in an outdoor wooded environment where there are inevitably hazards which volunteers must be aware of and take reasonable steps to avoid or mitigate. In particular, away from the main track the surfaces underfoot are invariably uneven and there are always tripping and other natural hazards. Volunteers are therefore advised and reminded to wear appropriate clothing and footwear, to be vigilant at all times and generally to take care for their own safety and for the safety of others around them whilst they are carrying out their work.  For our part, we will always risk assess locations where volunteers will be asked to work or which volunteers are otherwise likely to access and we will remove (or, where appropriate, direct volunteers to avoid) any serious or unusual hazards in, at or near such locations.  We will always monitor forecast and current weather conditions and will, if considered necessary (e.g. high winds or thunderstorms), cancel, suspend or revise activities to ensure that volunteers are not placed at risk. 

Ensuring safe methods of working 

We carry out risk assessments of all tasks and activities that volunteers will be asked to carry out.  Where appropriate, tasks and activities are demonstrated to volunteers before they carry them out themselves. 

We ensure that volunteers are wearing appropriate protective clothing and footwear and, where necessary, they will be provided with any additional clothing (e.g. gloves) they might require for specific activities.  If protective equipment (e.g. safety helmet) for volunteers is required, it will be provided.

For carrying out certain tasks, appropriate tools and equipment will be made available to volunteers, including bow saws, loppers and hatchets.  When not in use, these items are always stored safely with blades or sharp edges covered. Appropriate instruction on the use of such tools and equipment is always given to volunteers so as to ensure they are used safely.  

NB Volunteers are never permitted to use chain saws or other power tools.

Working with Children

Our Health and Safety Policy for working with children includes writing of Risk Assessments for activities that children will engage with, provision of appropriate PPE when appropriate to the activity being engaged with and making provision for a qualified First Aider to be in attendance at woodland sessions we run.

Ensuring availability of First Aid  

At all Outdoor Tribe events or sessions attended by volunteers, there will be at least one trained first aider present or in close proximity.  There will also be an appropriately stocked first aid box available on site.  The contents of the box are checked (and, where necessary, replaced) not less than once every 6 months by the Health & Safety Officer.

Responsibility for the implementation and enforcement of this Policy lies with our Director, Robert Dixon, who is our designated Health & Safety Officer.  

Dated:  July 2025

Due for review: June 2026