If you're running an event, you have a duty of care to ensure the safety of anyone who may be affected by the activity. You need to take the necessary precautions to keep everyone involved safe, as well as those in the vicinity of your activity, otherwise your group could be liable for any accidents and injuries which occur.

The resources below are essential for you to consider as part of your planning process; please make sure you ask if you're unsure.

Lack of understanding is not an excuse if something goes wrong!

Risk Assessments

Every event that's hosted by a student leader needs to be risk assessed. The link below will download our standard assessment which includes some basic risks. You will likely need to update them to make them relevant to your event and you may need to add more. A non-exhaustive list of hazards can be found here.

The document also mentions risks associated with bringing food onto campus, or selling food at an event (such as a bake sale). If your event includes food, you should familiarise yourself with the information in the relevant section(s) below as well.

Once complete, this should be sent to your coordinator for approval.
 

View Risk Assessment

Food at events

Every event which involves food (whether pre-packaged or homemade) will need to conform to the regulations below. However, the information on this page is intended as a guide only, and each event will need to be agreed to by your coordinator. If you have any questions or are unclear about anything, please contact them in the first instance - especially before any money is spent.

Shop-bought food

If you intend on holding an event and will offer or sell only shop-bought items, this should simply be stipulated on your risk assessment. However items must be offered to people in their original packaging to avoid cross contamination and packets must also clearly display ingredients and allergens.

Bake sales

If you are holding a bake and sale selling homemade items, you will find the details you need in this this document. You will also need to submit a Bake Sale risk assessment (adding any extra risks you identify) and complete the Allergen Information Sheet to display at your stall.

Homemade food

If you are serving homemade food which is at a closed society session, served to under 50 students and is not a recurring event then you will need to submit a risk assessment to your coordinator. The template assessment only includes basic risks related to food - it's important that you add in any which are relevant to what you are preparing. You should also look at the information provided by the Food Standards Agency and consider undergoing at least a basic food hygiene certification.

If the event is open to non-members, includes over 50 students or is an event where you will regularly provide homemade food then the requirements are more stringent. You will either need to undergo a food hygiene certification (and possibly register with the local authority), or use external caterers.

External caterers must be able to provide relevant food hygiene certification, risk assessments and proof of insurance. If they are selling food in public spaces, this will need to be agreed to by our Partnerships Manager.

BCUSU also reserves the right to require one of these options if it is deemed that the food being served is either high-risk or contains a large number of common allergens.

It's important that any accidents are reported to your coordinator as soon as possible, even if no injuries were sustained. We also ask you to report near misses, so we can learn from them and change policy or recommendations in the future.

Please use the form linked below to report any incidents which take place, as soon as possible. If you need any help, please speak to someone from the Activities and Representation team.
 

Complete Accident and Near Miss Form

Public Liability Certificate

Some venues you want to use for your activities may require you to submit a copy of our Public Liability Insurance certificate to show the level of cover in place for your activities.

The full policy schedule is available on request from the Activities and Representation team.
 

Download Certificate