Yes. If you employ or engage anyone under 18 at your golf club, you must consider the specific risks to young people as part of your Risk Assessment. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to make or review an assessment before employing a young person, taking particular account of their inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and maturity.
This can apply to young people working in areas such as the clubhouse, kitchen, bar, greenkeeping or administration, as well as those undertaking work experience or apprenticeships.
The assessment should consider factors such as:
- Their lack of experience, awareness of risks or maturity
- The layout and suitability of the workplace
- Exposure to physical, biological or chemical hazards
- The work equipment and machinery they may use
- The nature of the tasks and activities they will carry out
- The level of training and supervision they require
- Any particular risks associated with their age, capabilities or circumstances
In a golf club setting, this may be particularly important in areas such as kitchens, bars, greenkeeping operations and maintenance workshops where young people could be exposed to additional hazards.
Employers must ensure young workers receive suitable information, instruction, training and supervision. Young people must also be protected from work that is beyond their physical or psychological capacity or exposes them to prohibited or unacceptable risks. In some circumstances, work involving higher risks may be permitted for a young person who is no longer a child where it is necessary for training, they are supervised by a competent person and the risks are reduced so far as reasonably practicable.
The assessment should be reviewed if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or if there is a significant change to the work, workplace or circumstances.
Click here for our ‘Young Person Risk Assessment’