Model safety certificate

The fundamental purpose of the safety certificate is to set the maximum capacity or number of people that may be safely accommodated at the ground.

In doing so, the safety certificate will also detail the terms and conditions with which the ground management must comply in order to operate the sports ground at its permitted capacity.

These should reflect the particular circumstances of the ground concerned and any Operations Manual and pay due regard to the detailed advice in the Green Guide.

A risk-based certificate sets out a less prescriptive approach to certification. It requires the ground management to produce safety management documents and risk assessments to secure reasonable safety at the ground and record them in an Operations Manual. The Operations Manual, once checked and accepted by the local authority, is then incorporated in a schedule to the safety certificate.

It is recommended that a risk-based safety certificate should be a comparatively short document which, by condition, requires the holder to:

• undertake appropriate risk assessments;
• produce an Operations Manual; and
• comply with the policies, plans and procedures set out in the Operations Manual.

The Guide to Safety Certification provides full details on the certification process.

A template risk-based safety certificate is provided below.