Health and Safety

SUBU Clubs and Society Committees are responsible for maintaining the reasonable health and safety of their members as part of their activities.

We provide training on key health and safety processes including risk assessing your activities to support you to do this. This page houses information relevant to your health and safety processes.

There are six key processes you should familiarise yourself with in order to meet this responsibility:

  • Risk Assessments
  • Guest Speaker Forms
  • Club and Society Inventories
  • Room Bookings
  • Paid Instructors and Coaches
  • Student Drivers for Club Activity

The sections below explore these processes in more detail and include the links to relevant documentation and forms. If you have any questions about Club or Society Health and Safety, please contact the team at suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Health and Safety Basics

All SUBU Clubs and Societies are subject to a Society Risk Rating from Low to High Risk. High Risk Clubs are required to have a Health and Safety Officer as part of their core Committee and attend additional specialised training. This rating does not affect your Club or Society's ability to take part in the activities you want to, only the amount of support from the Student Opportunities team to make sure you can do so safely.

Risk Assessments

SUBU Clubs and Societies are asked to risk assess their own activities for one very simple reason - no one knows your activity better than you do.

This means your Committee are the best suited to identify potential hazards to your members as part of your activity. If you are unsure how to complete a risk assessment, we recommend checking out the training resources from this years Committee Training conference available on the Committee Zone Training page. If you need further support, please contact suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk.

There are two types of risk assessments you will need to complete;

  • An Annual Risk Assessment: This covers your regular activity for the entire Academic Year. Your regular activity cannot resume until you have completed this risk assessment. If you need support get in touch with the team.
  • One off Trip and Event Risk Assessments: Sometimes, your members will want to do something a little different. Whether that is attending a Trip abroad or taking part in an activity that sits outside what is considered to be your regular activity. You will be required to risk assess that specific trip or activity as part of your Trip and Event processes, you can view more information on this in the Committee Zone Trips and Events page.

The risk assessment form is provided digitally by BU, allowing you to complete quality risk assessments on the go. You will be asked to select someone to review and approve your risk assessment, for clubs this is a member of the Student Opportunities team, either:

  • Luci Phalp - lphalp279@bournemouth.ac.uk for general risk assessment review and approval
  • Bethany Jackson - bjackson@bournemouth.ac.uk for general risk assessment review and approval
  • Tammy Bowie - tbowie@bournemouth.ac.uk For High Risk Societies
Complete a Risk Assessment
Room Bookings

SUBU Clubs and Societies are able to book spaces in the University for their regular activity across both the Lansdowne and Talbot campuses. Make sure that all attendees have their BU student ID with them to access the room as it may need to be checked by the security.

You can book a repetitive space for your Society on a termly basis, i.e. September to December. You will need to re-request a space each term. There is no guarentee you will be allocated the same space each term and due to limited availability it will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Currently, there is no limit on the amount of spaces/slots you can request but available spaces will be divided between the clubs where possible.

Please note: A "3-Strike Rule" is in place which will be implemented if your club or society:

  • Are a no show for a booking (see cancelling a booking below) - which prevents others using the space.
  • Do not leave the room clean and tidy (including resetting the room layout) for the next occupants - it’s always good to leave the room in a better condition than you found it.

If 3 strikes occur in a semester, remaining bookings for the semester will be cancelled.

Rooms will be locked up if no one arrives within 30 minutes of the booking. If you are going to be late for your booking, please contact the Poole House Reception Team (01202 965001) to let them know when to expect you

If you need to cancel a booking you must contact suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk and rbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk by 4pm on the day of your booking to inform us you will not be attending your booking. You must provide the Society Name/Name of the Individual the booking was made under, the room you were allocated and the time of your booking. Cancelling a booking in this manner will not count towards the 3 strike rule.

If your activity includes a Guest Speaker, you will be asked to upload the completed and approved guest speaker form (see next section) into your room request.

Room Booking Request

Guest Speakers

Guest Speaker Forms are required to ensure we keep an accurate record of who is attending your activities and being given a platform to your members. This includes instructors, guest speakers, coaches, performers etc. You must complete a Guest Speaker Form in full and submit it to the Clubs team no less than 4 weeks in advance of their first attendance to your activities for us to carry out due diligence checks.

You will need to upload this approved form to your room booking request when attempting to book a speaker event on BU property.

Speaker parking:

Your Society can book parking for your Guest Speaker on Lansdowne Campus 7am-4pm Monday-Friday. It is pay and display outside of these times. To book, simply email suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk once your speaker is approved with the speakers full name, Car Registration number, and the time of arrival and departure.

Talbot Campus vistors and events car parks are Pay and Display 7am-4pm, and free outside of these times. Your Society may choose to reimburse your speaker for their parking cost via a Claim Form if incuring pay and display parking costs.

Guest Speaker Form
Club and Society Inventory

You are constitutionally expected to maintain a club inventory, we provide a template document that once completed can be handed over to your next Committee and updated, at minimum, annually.

All Club equipment remains the property of SUBU and it is the Committees responsibility to care for and maintain the equipment during their term in post.

Club Inventory Template
Patrons

Patrons provide specialised support and expertise to your Club or Society, as agreed with the current student Committee. They can also act as a representative of your society to the wider community, and vice versa. Common examples of Patrons include Academic Societies having a lecturer or other academic as patron, or a faith-based club having a patron who is an official from a local faith community or organisation.

Patron Agreement
Coaches and Instructors

Instructors and Coaches for your Club or Society become your Society's Patron, this includes both paid and voluntary instructors. We must have an up-to-date record of who provides coaching to our clubs through the completion of the relevant documentation below to ensure that they have provided their relevant insurance details and documentation.

Paid Instructor Form Voluntary Instructor Form
Student Drivers for Club Activity

Sometimes it's easier to get your members from A to B with a hired vehicle. In some cases you may elect to hire a vehicle that does not provide a driver or drive in your own personal vehicles.

To drive on behalf your Club or Society you must: Be over 21 years of age and hold a valid Driving License with 0 points. All Student Drivers must register with us, whether you are driving your own vehicle or a hire vehicle to be covered by our insurances. The student driver form linked below will ask you whether:

  • You intend to drive your own personal vehicle
  • Your Society wishes to hire a vehicle (mini bus, car etc) that does not come with a driver: In this case, it will also ask you for the relevant details we require to book your hire vehicle.
  • In both cases, you will be asked to provide images of your driving license.
  • You will be asked to provide a DVLA Driving License Check Code which you can request on the DVLA website: https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

Please note: As standard, students who are driving on behalf of their Club or Society should not participate in any activity that could cause harm to themselves to prevent stranding other members at your activity/trip location. If you are unsure whether your student drivers can participate in your chosen activity, speak to a member of the Student Opportunities Team. High Risk Society drivers must not participate in their activity if they are driving. In cases where your driver could not participate, you should explore hiring a vehicle that comes with a dedicated driver. Check out the Transport section of the Trips and Events page for more information.

You will be required to register as a driver each time you wish to hire a self driven vehicle or drive on behalf of the club in your personal vehicle to ensure your details are up to date.

Register your Student Driver here

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