Your Men’s Shed must be a safe place for your members and visitors. This means making plans about how you will manage any risks in your Men’s Shed.
You will need to identify any hazards in your Men’s Shed and make plans about how you reduce the risk from these hazards. At the SMSA we suggest you go above and beyond present law requirements and all Sheds should have these in place. We suggest doing it at least once a year after your AGM by the board or a sub committee and if you get new machinery during the year keep it updated. This will also help in insurance claims if you have them up to date and you ever need to make a claim. So a win win situation.
The SMSA have created a RISK ASSESSMENT and HEALTH & SAFETY Shed template for you to use and tweak to make it fit your requirements. This is available for our online INDIVIDUAL members in the Members Resource Library once you have logged.
There is also a great deal of information and support available. Your Men’s Shed will be unique, so you need to assess your own particular premises as well as getting general advice.
Some sheds have had advice from local Technical Colleges, retired Firefighters, retired Project Managers and Local Authority Officers.
Click on the blue links below to be taken to some very informative resources.
The Health and Safety Executive produce very helpful advice. They also provide example risk assessments, which can give you a good starting point. This is a very good link to a Health and Safety Toolbox.
Westhill Men’s Shed in Aberdeenshire has produced some very useful guides which they generously share with other sheds. These are available in our Members online Resource section.
Part of your Shed ‘paid’ Membership benefit if you use our insurance partner Greenwood Moreland Insurance Brokers are some Risk Assessment documents also to help you. Be sure to ask for them when your quote is finalised.
Also you will find loads of information in the Australian Men’s Shed ‘How to run a Shed’ manual which is also part of your paid SMSA Shed membership (£25 per Shed per year). Be sure to have your Shed get all these benefits and become a paid up Shed member – Join-SMSA
