Page 32 - AYO Governance Manual Draft

o Players agree to participate in all rehearsals and concerts subject to leave being
granted
o Pledge to play to the best of their ability, to practise and take their membership
seriously
o Recognition that membership of AYO is a commitment for an entire year and that failing to
meet this expectation may jeopardise the goals of the orchestra.
o Don't hide important provisions in the Handbook - a requirement for players to find
and, if necessary, pay for a replacement if they pull out within a certain number of
weeks prior to a concert, must be included in a contract/memorandum.
o See Table 4. for a sample memorandum.

Handbook
The Player Handbook (see Appendix) should be reviewed, updated and uploaded on the Players’ Page
on the website. Particularly review:
 Absence/leave procedures
 Conduct policy - especially the U18 policy
 Keeping in Touch

Leave Procedure
The leave email account is ayoleave@gmail.com. Players send their requests for leave to this
address. The inbox will then be cleared throughout the week by one member of the
committee, who will compile a list of approved leave applications and forward this to the
Music Director 24 hours before a rehearsal or the first rehearsal of a cluster.
Acceptable reasons for which to apply for leave are outlined in the Players’ Handbook. The Leave
Officer may also take into account the length of time since the AYO event was notified - if a
player has an important, pre-arranged commitment, it may not be unreasonable to grant
them leave from a last-minute or rescheduled rehearsal.

This process has the potential to be time consuming, and so the Leave Officer will reply
only to those requests that have been rejected. An automatic response stating that “if
no further reply is received, the request has been accepted” is also suggested, to
prevent players from sending repeat emails.

Health & Safety
All practicable steps will be taken to provide a healthy and safe orchestra environment. Players and staff
shall comply with all directions and instructions from AYO regarding health and safety and shall also take all
reasonable steps to ensure that they do not undermine the health and safety of any other person.

The Manager is responsible for ensuring the orchestra environment is safe and healthy. To achieve this the
Manager will:
 systematically identify and manage hazards
 manage hazards by either eliminating them, isolating them, or minimising them, in that
order of preference
 provide safety information to Players
 provide training or supervision so that Players can move about safely

However Players also have a part to play in making sure they stay healthy and safe and must:
 make unsafe orchestra environments safe or, if they cannot, inform the Manager
 know about and follow the health and safety practices and procedures
 report orchestra-related accidents, illnesses and injuries, and hazards
 inform us if there is any medical condition that we ought to be aware of.