Shetland Tall Ships Limited is the company engaged to deliver the Tall Ships Races event at the host port of Lerwick in July 2023. The annual Tall Ships Races are operated by Sail Training International and they contract host ports to provide a four-day event for the Tall Ships fleet, crews and sail trainees with an associated public festival celebrating the major attraction.
The company has volunteer directors who will be part of the overall delivery team of contractors, volunteers and employees it engages for the event project. In staging such an event, the company is fully committed to complying with statutory and other requirements placed on it that relate to health & safety hazards. The company is also committed to the prevention of injury or ill health to all participants including its own delivery team, contractors providing event activities, members of the public, and visitors to the event.
The Objective of this policy is for the company’s operations, and the part it plays in hosting the event project, to eliminate or control, as far as is reasonably practicable, any accidents and incidents which might result in harm or loss.
To ensure this Objective is met, the board of directors of the company (meeting regularly) will oversee implementation and maintenance of the Health & Safety system used by the company to ensure compliance, noting Health & Safety Executive guidance on event management amongst other regulations.
In doing so, directors undertake that during the preparatory stage for the main event, appropriate documented health & safety procedures including for its premises, working environment and travel for its project team are in place. In recruiting contractors to deliver roles for the company, their compliance with health & safety requirements will be a pre-requisite. The company’s documented procedures and assessments will be shared with contractors as required.
Given the nature of the event project, appropriate management systems shall be put in place for each phase of the event including planning, site build, event itself, and site breakdown.
The company will identify potential hazards and develop appropriate control measures through risk assessments. Risk assessments shall describe the controls required to eliminate hazards, where reasonably practicable, or reduce the level of risk from such hazards to as low as reasonably practicable.
The company is also committed to working with partner organisations including the local authority, port authority, Sail Training International, NHS and all blue light services on an overall Event Plan including an Emergency Plan for the event project.
The company will identify and provide sufficient and suitable information, instruction, training and supervision to its team. Information such as this Policy and risk assessments will be available. The company will ensure adequate resources are in place with the necessary expertise to achieve the Objective of this Policy.
Communication is important and as well as health & safety being an agenda item for the main board of directors, it will disseminate across the meetings of the working groups planning the event project where knowledge and expertise can be shared to achieve the Objective.
Team members, including contractors and volunteers, are required to give this Policy their full support and are encouraged to make positive contributions to the company’s health & safety performance. Feedback and suggestions on how health & safety is managed will be encouraged.
Communication on health & Safety matters with the public attending the event will be a focus, in particular any COVID-19 measures that may apply and this will be timeously included in the event plan.
This Policy shall apply to all team members engaged by the company in delivery of the project.
This Policy will be updated as required over the 20 month period leading up to the event project.
Malcolm Bell
Chairman
Shetland Tall Ships Ltd