Don’t shoot yourself ın the foot!

Health and Safety

If you run a shoot that has five or more employees you are required by law to have a written Health and Safety Policy.

Failure to do so can carry significant consequences such as a £20,000 fine and, indeed, serious offences can result in imprisonment.

However, whether or not a shoot falls into this category it always makes sense to have a written statement detailing the shoot health and safety policy. While forcing owners to consider the risks involved, it also demonstrates to the outside world that the owner/organiser has considered and taken all reasonable steps to avoid accidents.

Above all, a suitable health and safety policy will reduce accidents!

The correct and recommended health and safety policy is made up principally of two parts.

1. The risk assessment; and 2. The written document detailing procedures for implementing the health and safety policy.

Following a simple framework such as that noted below can help: • Identify the hazards – observe the shoot and talk to all employees to get a good feel for the potential dangers.

• Understand who is at risk – once the hazards are identified you must decide who might be harmed and what type of injuries they may face.

• Evaluate and action – prioritise the risks and put in place measures you feel can reduce the risks you have identified.

• Document what you have done – once a risk assessment has been carried out, the first three stages of this process need to be written in a single coherent document. This is your health and safety policy, which needs to be circulated among your employees. It is important they know and understand your health and safety policy, your arrangements for implementing it, and the part they play.

Employees also need to know how they can raise any health and safety concerns with you.

• Review – regular reviews and updates are required to keep your health and safety policy effective at reducing the dangers of the shoot and also for protecting your own position.

They shouldn’t be left to collect dust on a book shelf!

Producing a health and safety policy is not an exact science but careful examination of the points identified above will serve to produce a suitable policy

Gun licensing

As most of us know it is an offence for someone to own either a shotgun or firearm without the correct certificate authorising them to do so. But did you know that anyone owning a firearm without the correct certificate is liable to imprisonment for a term of up to five years and a fine? In addition a custodial sentence of three years or more will also remove the right to possess a firearm or shotgun certificate ever again.

A certificate for both a firearm and/or a shotgun will last five years. During this period licensees must comply with the terms of the firearm or shotgun certificate - failure to do so can also attract a custodial sentence of up to six months.

The common mistakes made by those with a certificate include: • Failing to store the weapon correctly; an approved gun cabinet meeting British standard 7558 must be used and fitted securely to a solid brick wall.

• Failing to keep secret the whereabouts of the key that opens the gun cabinet.

• Forgetting to inform the relevant firearms authority of any change of address. As a licensee if you move house you must inform the relevant firearms authority.

Something to note

Something which sometimes gets forgotten and doesn’t relate to safety or regulations but which should be mentioned in an article such as this the fact that some guns are very valuable assets. So, in addition to the issues mentioned above, it is worth making sure you have covered your guns in your Will and capital tax planning considerations.

If this article has raised any concerns, then please do seek professional legal advice, my colleagues and I will be happy help!

And finally…

Have a good shooting season and I hope that 1 February doesn’t come too quickly.