Hey Pete, Don't you take time out for xmas like everyone else then ?
I know where your coming from on this Pete but at club level, no one really wants the hassle of doing this I think. All they want is the trial to be covered by insurance and then away we go.
You are one of the rare local club organisers who have experience in H&S and can implement it, but for the most part, organisers just haven't got the time to do a full RA, even a generic one handed out to them, and then more importantly implement it.
As you know, once you have a formal system in place then in the event of an accident, the analysis will be on the implementation, training, and actions taken by the organisers. If they haven't allowed for something in their assessment or haven't followed their procedures correctly, then even worse, been found to be negligent, then they can be legally challenged in court as an organiser.
They can of course be challenged now but you don’t see that at the moment as when accidents happen, people just take it as 'par for the course' but that will change in future as more people become aware.
For example, a classic accident at trials is when collisions happen whilst there is two way traffic. I attended a trial last year where the organiser took this very seriously and put stakes in and tape between the two way traffic and this covered approximately 1/2 mile in total over the whole trial. Now that must have taken ages to do and put away after.
Another one is a collision with a spectator on a designated route. Having designated walkways separated from the contestants etc.. . The list is endless..
This is one of the reasons I packed up organising.. I just don’t want the hassle of all this work on top of the normal duties of running a club and if this goes this way then more people will do the same I am sure. Now this is surely what we don't want to happen.
Any more burden on the organisers will kill the sport I am sure.
Having many years experience in H&S I would have said, yes lets get all these things in place but I think in the case of Trials , it needs a completely different approach. I do have some views on this but I am keen to see what other people's views are before I put them forward