How Sporting disasters have shaped the health and safety of modern day sport

Unit 2 – Health, safety and injury in sport

Learning objectives (P2, M2, D1)

Pass – All pupils will recall the safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 and the Taylor Report and the key changes to professional sport that resulted from them.

Merit - Most pupils will recall the safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 and the Taylor Report and the key changes to professional sport that resulted from them. They understand and can explain what the Hillsborough disaster was.

Distinction – Some pupils will recall the safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 and the Taylor Report and the key changes to professional sport that resulted from them. They will begin to evaluate them, as well as drawing upon recent examples of how professional participants can be at risk from the crowd.

Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975

An Act introduced to ensure all sports grounds are safe enough for the public and players to use.

The Act stated that all sports grounds must have a safety certificate from the local council to ensure ‘reasonable safety’ for all who use it.

Good idea?

Liverpool v Nottingham Forest

15th April 1989 FA Cup Semi Final, played at Sheffield

Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium.

INSERT HILLSBOROUGH PICTURE HERE – (web search)

The Hillsborough Disaster

Large numbers of Liverpool fans gathered outside the Leppings Lane end, due to poor working turnstiles.

Police opened a large gate to reduce the crowding, causing thousands of fans to flood in to the ground.

Pens 3 and 4 of the lower terrace filled. The official capacity had been reduced to 1600 as the crush barriers (large metal fences) did not meet safety standards. It is thought that over 3000 fans were in those two small areas.

The Result

The match was abandoned after 7 minutes 96 people died 766 people injured

INSERT HILLSBOROUGH PICTURE HERE – (web search)

INSERT HILLSBOROUGH PICTURE HERE – (web search)

The Taylor Report

Following the disaster, the Prime Minister called for an immediate report into what went wrong on that tragic day.

The Lord Justice Taylor of Gosforth carried out the report which, despite being very controversial, resulted in some key health and safety changes to professional sport.

How has the Taylor Report changed modern day football? Removal of crash barriers Increased security / policing Greater number of medics and ambulances on site Movement to all seated stadiums (Top 2 leagues

only!) Greater management of how fans enter and leave

sports grounds Introduction of CCTV to make sports experiences

safer

Task 1 - The impact on Kingsholm?

If the recommendations from the Taylor report were enforced on Kingsholm, what would be the impact? Would Gloucester be allowed to move back to the Spa ground? Look at the pictures on slides 10 and 11.

Questions to think about! What would happen to the barriers in the Shed? Would the Shed exist? How many police do you see on a match day? Where would opposing fans sit?

Gloucester’s Spa Ground

The Spa Pavilion

Kingsholm Stadium Fire 1933

Kingsholm Stadium Fire 1933

The opening match of the 1933 - 34 season against Lydney had been postponed owing to the hard state of the ground. Later in the day a fire, which may or may not have started in a circus being held in the club's car park, swept through and destroyed the grandstand. However, in just nine weeks a new stand was planned, erected and completed for use.

From “The Citizen” Saturday 4 November 1933: New Grand Stand So far as spectators are concerned the new grandstand at Kingsholm will be

ready for the County match next Saturday. There will be seating accommodation for 1,330 people, and in front of the stand there will be room for about 1,500 people to stand, most of whom will be under cover.

Remarkable progress has been made in erecting the stand, as it is now barely eight weeks since the old stand was burned down. Day and night shifts were worked to erect the steel framework, and the floor has already been laid. Carpenters have been busy this week fixing [word missing] into position, and the asbestos roof is [word missing] in position. Although slightly smaller than the old one, the new stand is more substantial, and spectators will find that they have been provided with more leg room.

A difficulty has been the two open erections on either side of the new stand. These have to be moved back several feet bodily in order to give spectators in the new stand a clear view of the whole of the field. They have to be placed on concrete foundations, but this it is hoped will have been carried out by November 11.

Fire Safety and Safety of Sports Venues

The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 applies to all sports grounds with accommodation for spectators. Safety controls are imposed primarily through safety certificates issued by local authorities for sports grounds designated by the Secretary of State, currently [insert name].

Fire Safety and Safety of Sports Venues

Fire risk assessment: mandatory requirement under new fire legislation.

Places of safety: definition of places of safety and places of reasonable safety aligned with new legislation.

New guidance: on emergency evacuation of spectators with disabilities and staff awareness and training.

Task 2

Produce a leaflet explaining the measures that are in place to prevent another fire disaster happening at Kingsholm. You will need to research stadium fire regulations and apply it to Kingsholm.