Health
& Safety at Brackley Road Cemetery
Responsibility
for health and safety at Brackley
Road
Cemetery
lies with the Town Council
who is the Burial authority in charge of the Cemetery. The Management
of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) requires all employers
to assess the risks to employees and non employees which arise out
of the employer's undertaking. Therefore, burial authorities are
under a legal duty to access the risk from all plant, structures
(this includes Memorials) and work activities in their cemeteries
and ensure that the risk in controlled.
There
have been several fatal accidents across the Country in recent years
which has increased the attention on the stability of memorials
and the risks that they present to all Cemetery Users.
The
issue of memorial stability is not a simple one. Whilst burial authorities
have overall responsibility for the safety of the Cemetery, including
the risks arising from unstable memorials, they do not own the memorials.
The owners of the memorials will be the grave owners – usually the
family of the deceased.
To
comply with Health and Safety procedures the Town Council have agreed
to commission a specialist Company to carry out an independent survey
of all memorials at the Brackley Road, Cemetery ; commencing with
the memorials in the older part of the Cemetery. Each Memorial will
be assessed and given a full report on whether any remedial action
is necessary.
Memorials
will be firstly hand-tested and if required a pressure test at an
applied pressure of 35kg. The pressure test does not leave marks
nor causes any damage to the memorial.
Local
Authorities have a power under the provisions of the Local Authorities
Cemeteries Act 1977 to take immediate action to make safe dangerous
memorials. Except in situations of immediate danger the Council
will not “lay down” the Memorials without consulting the owners
of the grave. If there is no identifiable owner the Council will
proceed with making any unsafe memorials safe.
If
you require any further information on the survey or any related
matters, please contact:-
Dianne
Isaacs Town
Clerk
01327 350995
Cllr
Alan Maycock Chairman of the Cemetery Committee
01327
351579
|