Shoot Health and Safety

Why does my shoot need a health and safety policy?

If your shoot has five or more employees at any one time it is a legal requirement to have a health and safety policy in place. If you don’t have one, you may be liable to criminal prosecution, which, in turn, can lead to a significant fine and/or imprisonment.

Even if the shoot does not have employees, it still makes sense to document and assess potential risks. Have a policy in place in case of accidents to:

Avoid criminal prosecution and civil proceedings. If anyone is injured on your shoot, the health and safety division of the local Environmental Health department may investigate the incident. You are far less likely to be taken to court if you can prove you have taken all reasonable steps to avoid accidents.
Secure shooting opportunities. If not now, at some time in the future you could find your lease requiring you to have documented risk assessments.
Make you think about all the potential risks entailed in running any type of a shoot.
Maintain the good name of the sport. Not just among politicians and government agencies, but also the non-shooting public. Shooting’s safety record is good. We must all do our bit to keep it that way.

Greater safety consciousness will reduce accidents. No one wants their day spoilt by an avoidable accident.

Downloads

For assistance with fieldsports health and safety, risk assessments, visits and discussion with your team, please contact Peter Marshall on 01244 573 063 or email.

The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008

The Act amends s.33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, to raise the maximum penalty the lower courts can issue from £5,000 to £20,000. It also allows some offences, previously limited to the lower courts, to be tried in higher courts. Those have the power to pass stiffer – often unlimited – penalties. Therefore, it makes a custodial sentence an option for a wider range of such offences. The Act doesn’t impose any additional legal duties.

Tail docking in Scotland

Read our advice on tailing docking regulations in Scotland.

African Swine Fever

African Swine Fever What is African Swine Fever? African Swine Fever (ASF) is an infectious and usually fatal disease that afflicts members of the pig family including domestic pigs and wild/feral boar. While it does not affect humans, we can quite easily transmit the disease and need to take care.

Farm subsidies

Farm Subsidies The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms agreed for the 2014-2020 period introduced new farm subsidy rules and payments from 1 January 2015. Each UK country operates a different subsidy scheme. For England, the Rural Payment Agency administers the Basic Payment Scheme. Claimants of the Basic Payment must show cross compliance with environmental, food