Page 20 - Out Birding Autumn 2023

have read the risk assessment at the back of the calendar and agree to abide by the general requirements.
You will see some changes in the calendar, including more informa􏰀on at the front of the calendar, and more detail about what to expect during the event, such as terrain and facili􏰀es. Please event leaders, when you are sending in details of future events, please can you pay a􏰁en􏰀on to Eve and Sue’s requests for how to format your calendar entries. This will save them from the effort of having to chase you for missing details.
Finally, I want to pay tribute to our event leaders and thank them for pu􏰂ng on such an interes􏰀ng selec􏰀on of events and for keeping everyone safe so far. It’s a very im- portant part of what the Club is all about and I hope you will all recognise the changes we have had to make as simply being a slight formalisa􏰀on of what we do very well already.
And finally, I will re-iterate my earlier plea for people to join the commi􏰁ee. There are a number of spaces that, if we could fill them, would for a small investment of 􏰀me, help us to bring about changes to modernise the Club more quickly than is possible at the moment. Please email me if you are at all interested.
With warm wishes. I hope you have a great autumn. Andy
Health and Safety Matters
Hi everyone, I am Richard Lazenby and I have just taken on the role of Health and Safety Officer for the club. We have recently renewed our insurance policy and the insurers’ demands are more stringent than in the past leading us to review our Health and Safety policies and procedures. More importantly, the commi􏰁ee is steadfast in its wish to protect all members and the club itself.
The focus of the review will be our field events and, as before, the annual calendar will play a big part in le􏰂ng everyone know what to expect on the day in terms of terrain, length of walk, facili􏰀es and the clothing/footwear to choose, among other things. We already have a Code of Conduct, printed in the back of the calendar, which covers many of the possible hazards and this will form the backbone of the new Risk Assessments. Sue and Eva are part of a commi􏰁ee sub-group looking at how event informa􏰀on should be worded in the future.
A new addi􏰀on to the calendar will be a list of par􏰀cipants’ responsibili􏰀es for their own safety. Essen􏰀ally, there is very li􏰁le different here other than, from now on, we must let event leaders know in advance if we are a􏰁ending.
More details about the Health & Safety Policy will be published in November Out Birding but, in the mean􏰀me, if you have any ques􏰀ons, please contact me. My details are on the inside back cover of OB.
Richard
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