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The
Braille Chess Association (B.C.A.) is a very small organisation and has
only two paid employees, our treasurer and our fund-raiser, who are part time
and work from home. The Association is run by a Board of Trustees, largely
blind or partially sighted chess players, drawn from the membership.
However, we also have a number of sighted volunteers to help with various
activities.
Our main health and safety
concerns arise at the chess tournaments that we organise for members of the
Association. These tournaments are held in various hotels around the
country. Particular care is needed when a blind or partially sighted member
attends a tournament on their own or with a partner who also has serious
sight loss.
The tournament
organiser plays a key role in ensuring that high standards of health and
safety prevail. He/she meets the hotel management prior to the tournament
to discuss the hotel's health, safety and emergency procedures, with the
aim of establishing whether there would be any problems for blind or
partially sighted members and agreeing what extra help the hotel might need
to provide. A particularly important role for the hotel is to ensure that all
unaccompanied blind and partially sighted guests on arrival are made aware
of the fire safety procedures and their nearest emergency exit point.
The tournament
organiser tries to ensure that B.C.A. members are located in the same areas
of the hotel and on lower floors as this would tend to make things easier,
both for the hotel staff and for the members, in case of an emergency.
Similarly, he/she provides the hotel with a preferred room allocation so
that the sighted B.C.A. guests are equally located among the blind guests
as this could be helpful in an emergency evacuation of the building in the
night. He/she also lets the hotel know which guests are likely to need
assistance in an emergency, particularly those with serious hearing loss or
walking difficulties. As an additional precaution, any individual who is
concerned that they might not hear a fire alarm is asked to inform the
hotel reception on arrival.
Another feature of
our arrangements is that people attending B.C.A. events are reminded that,
if they feel it would be helpful, they should give the hotel reception a
sealed envelope containing appropriate medical details and contact details
of a person at home so that these can be made available in a medical
emergency.
The Association
carries appropriate insurance against Public Liability.
Last reviewed June
2009
Download the health and safety statement in
Microsoft word
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