MADS
Health & Safety Policy

GENERAL STATEMENT OF INTENT

​

MARCHINGTON AMATEUR DRAMATIC SOCIETY (M.A.D.S.) believes that

excellence in the management of health and safety is an essential element

within its theatrical productions – a good health and safety record goes hand in

hand with excellence in performance.

People are the most important asset to this society, and therefore we are totally

committed to ensuring their health, safety and welfare at all times.

From an economic point of view, the society believes that prevention is not only

better, but cheaper than cure. There is no necessary conflict between

humanitarian and artistic considerations. Profits and safety are not in

competition. On the contrary, safety is good business.

From a legal perspective, the society is committed to ensuring that it complies

with all relevant health and safety legislation. Where it is reasonably practicable

to do so, the society will strive to go beyond the requirements of legislation.

The society is committed to on-going monitoring and review processes, so that

continual improvement in the management of health and safety can be

achieved.

Our general intentions are:-

• To provide adequate control of the Health and Safety risks arising from

our theatrical, production and artistic activities;

• To consult with our voluntary society members on matters affecting their

Health & Safety;

• To provide and maintain safe systems of work and equipment;

• To ensure safe handling and use of hazardous substances;

• To provide information, instruction and supervision for all society

members, sub-contractors, and general theatre staff;

• To ensure all society members, sub-contractors, and general theatre staff

are competent to do their tasks, and to give them adequate training;

• To prevent accidents;

• To maintain safe and healthy working conditions;

• To provide a safe environment for audience members and visitors that

attend our productions; and

• To review and revise this policy at regular intervals.ORGANISATION

Overall responsibility for health and safety is that of:

The M.A.D.S. Committee

Day-to-day responsibility for ensuring this policy is put into practice is delegated

to:

Stage Manager and Director

Duties of Society Members

All society members are required to:

• Co-operate with the Committee on health and safety matters;

• Not interfere with anything provided to safeguard their health and safety;

• Take reasonable care of the health and safety of themselves and others; and

• Report all health and safety concerns to the Stage Manager.

Non-compliance with health and safety rules and procedures can result in members

being asked to appear before the committee to explain their actions, and where

necessary the committee reserves the right to ask them to leave the society where

deemed appropriate.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

All society policies and procedures in relation to health and safety are regarded as

supplementary to this policy.

Risk Assessment

In accordance with our commitment to the safe running of our theatrical, production

and artistic activities, the society will carry out risk assessments of all actions or

omissions that present a risk to its members or others persons directly or indirectly

involved for example audience members and sub-contractors. These risk assessments

will be carried out in line with NODA SAFE guidance, and the procedure for doing so is

as follows:

1. Identify the significant hazards involved in our activities.

2. Decide who might be harmed and how.

3. Evaluate the level of risk and decide if existing precautions are sufficient, or if more

needs to be done.

4. Record the significant findings of the assessment.

5. Review the assessment when things change, or there is reason to believe that it is

no longer valid.Risk assessments will be undertaken by:

Stage Manager

Approval for the required action to remove or control risks will be given

by the:

The Committee

Risk Assessments will be kept in:

The Production File

Production File

The society operates a documented health and safety production file provided by our

health and safety consultants, NODA SAFE, who are our competent advisers on all

aspects of health and safety. They can be contacted at any time for advice on 0845

257 6632 or via email at nodasafe@noda.org.uk

The health and safety management system is the responsibility of:

The Stage Manager

Consultation with Society Members

The society will consult with its members in accordance with our commitment to the

safe running of our theatrical, production and artistic activities

Consultation with Society Members will be provided in:

Pre-Production Meetings

Safe Use of Production Equipment & Materials

The society will ensure that all production equipment & materials are suitable and

without risks to health and safety, in accordance with the societies commitment to

providing the safe running of our theatrical, production and artistic activities

Responsibility for identifying all production equipment & materials

needing maintenance is that of:

Stage Manager

Any problems with production equipment & materials should be

reported to:

Stage Manager

Responsibility for checking that new production equipment & materials

meets health and safety standards before it is purchased is that of:

The Committee

Safe Handling and Use of Potentially Hazardous Substances

The society will assess and control health risks from exposure to hazardous substances.

Only approved products will be used in our productions.

Responsibility for identifying all hazardous substances that need

assessing:Stage Manager

Hazardous Substance Assessments will be carried out by:

Stage Manager

Approval for the required action to remove or control risks will be given

by:

The Committee

Hazardous Substance Assessments will be kept in:

The Production File

Accidents, First Aid and Work Related Ill-Health

The depth of an accident investigation will depend on the seriousness of the incident

and this in turn will indicate the type of approach to be taken. For minor injuries or

incidents such cuts or bruising that do not result in any time lost from the production

or a member of the public / student being taken to hospital, a brief description of the

incident along with the injured parties details will need to be entered into the Accident

Book. In the case of a more serious injury or incident a more in-depth investigation will

be required.

The procedure for such an accident investigation is as follows:

• Care for injured person(s) including contacting emergency where necessary

• Control hazards/secure accident site, if safe to do so

• Notification of the incident to NODA Safe, who will advise of appropriate

action to take.

• Investigate promptly

First aid box(es) is/are kept in:

TBC

TBC

The appointed person(s)/ first aider(s) is/are:

All accidents and work related ill-health are recorded in the accident

book, which is kept in:

Production File

Responsibility for reporting accidents, diseases and dangerous

occurrences to NODA Safe is that of:

Stage Manager

Monitoring

To check our production conditions, and ensure our safe working

practices are being followed, we will:

Undertake pre-production checks

Emergency Procedures – Fire and Evacuation

Responsibility for ensuring that a fire risk assessment and emergency

plan for the venue is in place is that of:The Stage Manager

Escape routes are checked by/every:

Stage Manager daily and prior to audience members being permitted onto the

premises.

In the event of an emergency person(s) responsible for roll call and

giving any necessary information to the fire officer are:

The Stage Manager

Visitors

The society acknowledges its responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all

persons who come into contact - either directly or indirectly - with its theatrical,

production and artistic activities - this includes visitors to Society premises i.e.

audience members and contractors.

In particular adequate signage and information notices will be used to ensure

that visitors are informed of any particular hazards or emergency arrangements,

which they may encounter during their time at the premises, and to inform them

of any precautions that they should take.

Changes to this Health and Safety Policy

We may amend this policy from time to time; for example, to keep it up to date or to

comply with legal requirements.

How to contact us

For any questions or concerns relating to this Privacy Policy or our data protection

practices, or to make a Subject Access Request, please contact us in one of these

ways:

By phone to the Secretary, Caroline Knapton: 07971115026

By email: marchingtonmads@gmail.com

By post to: MADS, 2 Bridge Cottages, Church Lane, Marchington ST14 8LJ

Date: 5th August 2025