Greenkeepers at a golf club have been told by their local council that they should wear hard hats in what could become a new health and safety issue for clubs.
The unnamed golf club has revealed to Brian Butler, health and safety adviser to the Golf Club Managers’ Association (GCMA), that it has received an unannounced visit from its local council’s senior environmental health officer, who raised the issue of ‘the need for greens’ staff to wear hard hats’ to protect them from flying golf balls.
The greenkeepers have stated that they are not enthusiastic about wearing the hats and the club has even tried sourcing headgear that looks like baseball caps but contain protective materials.
The news comes in the wake of the golfer who last year sued both Niddry Castle Golf Club in Scotland and a fellow golfer, after he lost an eye when a ball struck him in the face.
Mr Butler warned that clubs need to learn the lessons from that case and carry out risk assessments on their golf courses, even though this may result in greenkeepers being told to wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
“In some clubs greenkeepers already wear hard hats because there are areas of the course where the likelihood of being hit by golf balls is high,” he said. “Where these situations exist they should be recorded in a risk assessment. The use of PPE following a situation identified in a risk assessment becomes a mandatory safety precaution for all greenkeepers.
“If a greenkeeper was to have a serious accident there is no doubt that an environmental health officer could prosecute the club if the risk assessment was not suitable and sufficient.
“Just as the Niddry Castle case turned on the absence of a course risk assessment, so would a risk assessment be a central issue in a civil case. In that case there was a criticism of the club for not having a system of near-miss reporting. All committee members of all clubs should know whether the risk of greenkeepers being hit by golf balls is increasing or not.
“Most greenkeepers would say that they are at risk because there is often a minority of golfers who do not respect their safety.
“If this is the case the club has an obligation to address this situation as a priority.”
Mr Butler added that a risk assessment, such as the GCMA / BIGGA Safety Management System, which he helped devise, would help the club identify control measures on the course, which may involve something potentially more effective than the need for greenkeepers to wear hard hats.
“A risk assessment that collected near-miss information from greenkeepers and identified a number of control measures is more likely to meet the legal standard of suitable and sufficient than one that merely imposes a requirement to wear a hard hat at all times,” he said.
“Other actions could include restricting the number of tees that golfers can start playing in the morning so that greenkeepers can work in advance of any danger of flying golf balls and giving greenkeepers right of way.”
Staff at a number of UK golf clubs, including Downpatrick and Castlerock, both in Northern Ireland, already wear hard hats on a regular basis.
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