Safety Essentials

Safety Essentials provides an introductory summary of the key elements of sports grounds safety.

It covers:

• What’s involved in calculating the safe capacity of a sports grounds
• The importance of risk management and conducting risk assessments
• An overview of the physical environment and factors of a sports grounds
• Safety management, and the roles and responsibilities of individuals in the safety team
• The importance of working with others (such as the local authority and emergency services) to have a joined-up approach to safety
• Safety certification, including the legal requirements for grounds in the UK.

This guidance is not a comprehensive explanation of all issues. However, it provides an overview of some of the fundamental principles of safety and where further information and tools can be found.

It should be used proportionally, based on the individual ground and/ or event. It is not expected to be followed to the letter, but instead should be used to improve awareness of sports grounds safety.

Further explanations of the key points covered in this document can be found in the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide) and Supplementary Guidance 03: Event Safety Management.