and anyone else that may be affected by what you do – or what you fail to do. The Act applies to all work activities and premises and every person who works there has responsibilities under it, including any self-employed individual. Look at the Health and Safety Executive website on www.hse.gov.uk for more information.

MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK REGULATIONS 1992 This Act generally describes more explicitly what employers are required to do in order to manage health and safety under the this Act. It requires employers to carry out risk assessments, to make arrangements to implement necessary measures, to appoint competent people and to arrange appropriate information and training (for example, all staff should do some health and safety training). Risk assessments are generally carried out as a means of identifying hazards and/or other potential problems in the workplace. Thus they attempt to to reduce the risk of work-related injury or accidents. Sports practitioners should automatically assess levels of risk in their working area – that is, without thinking. It is good practice to formalise the process too, by filling out risk assessment forms as part of standard procedure. Remember, risk assessment is a legal requirement. When assessing risk, you should

take into account factors such as resources, hygiene and cleanliness, the safety and suitability of the working area, controlling cross- infection between clients or patients, disposal of waste, and the ability to maintain a good working posture when transporting beds. Some of these factors are described in Box 2.

Posture

It is essential that you do everything you can to minimise the risk of harm to yourself when applying massage techniques. It is best to maintain a neutral spine and good body alignment. Try to keep rotation to a minimum. The couch height is important also and should ideally be at hip height. Remember to use your centre of gravity and body weight to apply techniques and ensure your breathing pattern is regular. Keep your arms and shoulders relaxed and your legs

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correctly positioned in the lunge stance or squat. Think, too, about the position of your hands, that is keep them facing forwards at all times unless they are reinforced (you should always reinforce or support your fingers). See Figure 1 for an illustration of these measures.

WORKPLACE (HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE) REGULATIONS 1992 This covers a wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues. Among them are ventilation, heating, lighting, work-stations, seating and welfare facilities. Here are three considerations that relate directly to you as sports practitioners.

1. Working area

Ideally this should be maintained at a comfortable temperature. The suggested ideal temperature for offices and sedentary work is 16° C. For work that involves physical effort, like sports massage, a temperature of at least 13° C is better. In a clinical environment, controlling temperature is not a problem but when working at sporting events, make sure you have adequate clothing and resources like towels and blankets to maintain a comfortable working temperature for yourself and your clients.

2. Ventilation Consider ventilation especially if conditions are hot or humid. The working area should have an adequate supply of fresh or artificially conditioned air in order to avoid heat stress or discomfort through excess heat or humidity or lack of ventilation.

3. Security and welfare You awareness of security is paramount when you are mobile or working at

neutral spine position

relaxed arms and shoulders

Use centre of gravity and body weight

regular breathing pattern

couch at hip height

BOX 2: FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING RISK IN THE WORKPLACE

n Premises and equipment n Available resources n Safety of working area n Ergonomics of working area

n Human factors n Hygiene n Cleanliness n Infection control n Waste disposal

sporting events. Be vigilant at all times. Do not carry items of value or leave any equipment, stock or client records lying around. The fact that practitioners often work alone creates the potential for exposure to other risks (such as physical assault) that are unlikely if other people are close by or if a chaperone is at hand, but in reality this can be hard to organise.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) REGULATIONS 1992 All employers are required to provide appropriate protective clothing and equipment for their employees. It is essential, for example, for self-employed practitioners to carry and use disposable gloves just in case they need to avoid contact with blood at a sporting events.

REPORTING OF INJURIES, DISEASES AND DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES REGULATIONS (RIDDOR) 1995

As an employer or self-employed practitioner, you are required by this legislation to notify the health authority about certain occupational injuries, diseases and dangerous occurences. If you haven’t already done so, it would be useful for you to research precisely which injuries or diseases you are supposed to report. See Box 3 for a list of notifiable diseases as specified by the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) 1988 Act and the Public Health (Control of Diseases) 1984 Act.

hands forward at all times

legs in lunge stance or squat

Figure 1: How to minimise risks to yourself when massaging

All accidents should be recorded in an accident book and the record should be signed by anyone who was involved (including the injured person). If an accident is serious or involves an absence from work of more than 3 days, it should be reported to the Environmental Health Department of your local authority within 7 days.

MANUAL HANDLING OPERATIONS REGULATIONS 1992 This covers the moving of objects by

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