“All you that do intend to ring, you undertake a dangerous thing.”

From ringers rules at All Saints, Stamford, quoted by Ernest Morris, History and Art of Change Ringing, page 501.

As ringers, we are all familiar (perhaps a bit too much so) with the hazardous nature of ringing, and have therefore in the past tended to be somewhat lax in our attitude towards this. This does not mean that we have been ignoring the dangers, although we have perhaps not been as diligent as we ought about recording what we have done concerning them.

Nowadays, however, there exists a far greater quantity of legislation, which is put in place to protect people from being harmed. This applies as much to volunteers as to paid employees, so we are not exempt. The main legislation which affects us is the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Management Reg’s) [Ref 1]. In relation to this, in our case, the terms “employer”, and “management” may be taken to refer to the Church authorities (Clergy, Churchwardens, PCC), as it is they who have legal responsibility for the buildings and their contents. Likewise, “employees” means us.

Regulation 3 of Management Reg’s states “Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees”. A risk assessment involves looking at hazards and risk. ‘Hazard’ means anything that could cause harm. ‘Risk’ is a combination of the likelihood of that happening and the potential seriousness if it did. Regulation 6 requires the employer to record the findings of that assessment, where there are five or more employees. This article will describe how to spot hazards, and how to record and control them.

As we are all well aware, every tower is different, so a specific assessment will need to be done for each location.

Assuming that no assessment currently exists, the first step will be to carry out a thorough inspection of the tower, and its surroundings. The guidance notes published by the Central Council [Ref 2] give some good advice on this, which can be adapted to suit individual towers. The inspection should be carried out jointly by representatives of both ringers and Church. It’s a good idea to have somebody who is not a ringer present, as they will notice hazards which we are familiar with, and have been ignoring.

Begin your inspection at the point or points where people enter the Church premises, i.e. the Churchyard gateway. Other people apart from ringers will be using these routes, so consider those with mobility issues. Do different hazards present themselves at different times / seasons / weather conditions? How would emergency services get access? Is there more than one access point? Are any access points closed at some times (locked gates / doors), and how could these be opened if needed? Remember that security is an issue related to safety, so this should also be considered.

The entrance to the tower is the point at which the interests of ringers and other users of the Church building begin to diverge. Where the space used by the ringers is shared by other Church users (almost exclusively ground floor rings) this needs to be considered. See Central Council guidelines for further information. In other cases, the belfry can tend to be an area of the Church which gets forgotten about by the authorities. Access can become more difficult, being obstructed locally by other features in the building, e.g. narrow passageways, heating pipes. Remember that not only is this the way in to the tower – it is also the way out, so hazards not observed on entry may become more obvious on exit. Is there sufficient space to carry portable equipment e.g. tools? Is lighting / emergency lighting adequate? What would happen if an ambulance crew needed to attend? Remember that these access routes could also be used by people who are not ringers e.g. contractors, who might well not be familiar with the hazards of which ringers are generally aware.

As the Ringing Room is the place where ringers spend the majority of their time whilst in the tower, it perhaps needs to be considered separately. Is it clean / tidy / well lit / ventilated / heated? Does any emergency lighting get tested regularly? Is there sufficient seating for ringers not taking part? Are there sufficient hooks for coats? What happens about people who arrive later than the normal start time? Are there suitable warning signs concerning clock / chime hammers? Is any portable electrical appliance (i.e. anything fitted with a plug) regularly tested? Does the area form part of an access route to other areas? How would emergency services be summoned if needed (consider use of what3words)? What is the condition of the bell ropes? Is a first aid kit available, and checked? Is a suitable fire extinguisher present and tested? If bells are left up at any time, what precautions are taken to protect / warn people of this? Where boxes are used, are they suitable and safe? Is noise level acceptable whilst bells are being rung?

Moving on to the action of ringing itself, what procedures are taken for training of recruits? Is the person responsible for ringing (ringing master / tower captain) made aware of any ringer who has specific medical conditions, which may be affected by ringing – e.g. epilepsy / pregnancy / recent surgery? Are young people involved, and if so, what additional measures are taken to keep them safe? Are any non-ringing visitors welcomed and advised on behaviour in this area, e.g. keep both feet still and on floor? How are visiting ringers informed of any specific issues?

Beyond the Ringing Room will be a high risk area. There is likely to be a separate room, through which the ropes pass, and which may or may not contain a clock, the workings of which may present additional trip hazards. Further onwards will be the Bell Chamber. What procedures are taken for people working (preferably not alone) in these areas? How is access to these areas controlled? If access is controlled by a lock, where is the spare key kept? In order for Churchwardens to fulfil their roles, they need to have access to all areas of Church premises, and may need to admit contractors. What controls this when bells are left up?

The Bell Chamber itself is an area of very high risk. It is likely to be poorly lit, very dusty, cramped, and extremely cold in winter. Lone working should be avoided wherever possible. Head torches are a good idea for local illumination, as they leave both hands free. The area should be kept free of accumulated rubbish. Louvre windows should be covered in netting (the condition of which needs to be monitored), in order to keep birds from entering. Remember that this area may also be used for access to parts of the building which lie beyond, e.g. the tower roof or flag pole.

Having completed your inspection assuming this is a new assessment, you should have a fairly lengthy list of hazards, most of which can have measures put in place to control them.

As mentioned previously, risk is a combination of the likelihood (probability) of an incident happening and the severity (worst possible case) if it did. A numerical approach may be helpful.

RISK RATING (R) = P x S	TIMESCALE FOR ACTION REQUIRED – If reasonably practicable
1-4 Low	None, but note for future reference
5-12 Medium	In reasonable time, to be mutually agreed
15-25 High	AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

For each of the hazards noted on your inspection, you will need to rate the risk, and then decide on suitable control measures to put in place. When you have done this, then work out the new risk rating, which should ideally be lower than before, but certainly not higher.

Such control measures might include:

• Controlling access to high risk areas – i.e. those beyond ringing room.
• Removing / repositioning obstructions.
• Placing warning signs.
• Recording regular routine maintenance / checks.

As an example, suppose that an inspection has been done at an active Church, with an enthusiastic and growing local band. One hazard that has been noticed is the presence of a water pipe, part of the old, but still active heating system for the Church, which is routed across the bottom of the door to the tower stairs. This presents a trip hazard for anyone who has to use this stairway. Local ringers are familiar with this, but on occasions, visitors have tripped over the pipe. As the pipe is still in use, it cannot be easily moved or removed. This gives a probability rating of 3 (Possible), and a severity rating of 2 (Minor treatment), so risk rating of 3 x 2 = 6. A feasible control measure would be to paint the area of the pipe where it obstructs the doorway in a bright colour (say yellow, for example), so that it becomes more noticeable. This would lower the probability to 2 (Remote), leaving the severity rating unchanged, so the risk rating is then lowered to 2 x 2 = 4, at a materials cost of a small tin of paint, and half an hour’s labour.

There will be some hazards which we can do nothing to control – for example, most of our towers have only one means of access and egress, so it would not be possible to have an alternative escape route in the event of a fire. In terms of the legislation, this is covered by the term “so far as is reasonably practicable”, which means weighing a risk against the trouble, time and money needed to adequately control it. Even when it is not possible to put control measures in place relating to these hazards, it is important to record them for future reference – if you don’t do this, then you have been wasting your time!

To complete the assessment, it will be necessary to produce it in a written form, similar to that shown above. Note that it is not up to us as ringers to allocate budgets, assign actions to those responsible, or set close-out dates for such actions to be completed. This is a duty for the Church authorities.

Having completed the assessment, it will be necessary to keep it up to date by reviewing it.

Regulation 3 of Management Reg’s requires a review when there is reason to suspect that an assessment is no longer valid; or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates. It is good practice to review assessments on a regular basis anyway, so that any changes can be made as and when necessary.

Peter Soar
Who has served for many years as a Trade Union Health & Safety Representative.

REFERENCES

1. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/contents
2. Central Council guidance on Risk Assessment – https://cccbr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SM_Risk-Assessment_2020_Ver_1.pdf

Downloads

Blank Risk Assessment forms:
.DOC
.PDF