Health & Safety Legislation with regard to Moats/Ponds

[Brinsop Court Farm]

We are about to open our first holiday let which is situated within a Medieval Moated Court House. We are trying to find out exactly what Health & Safety legislation applies and consequently are wondering at what age group do we draw the line - we are presently thinking no children under 12 years of age! Any information from people in similar circumstances would be greatly appreciated or any website addresses covering this subject would be soooo welcome.

[Willowlady]

Hi-we run a B&B in an sAC and SSSI; the River Avon is about 20 feet from the garden. One of the guestrooms has patio doors straight out to it. People can be grossly irrisponsible and not supervise their children properly esp in others' houses so I've used the standard format with VisitBritain stating that we take over 10's only. Our Insurers know we live close to the River but have made no exclusions re guests safety and access to our policy(we have a flooding excess-no surprise there!!)-however anyone who books with children is warned again about this (also on our own website). I'd personally send a polite but businesslike fax (keep a transmission record) to your insurers asking specifically how you are covered, third party liability wise, in the event of an incident; ask for a written response within say, 2 weeks; as this moat is man-made they may not even know from your postcode that you are near a water 'hazard' so it could be a material fact you have failed to disclose thus invalidating your insurance. ...I know my response is biased towards protecting yourselves rather than your guests - but it's a good place to start!!Regards

[Martin_Sach_CE_EASCO]

We are about to open our first holiday let which is situated within a Medieval Moated Court House. We are trying to find out exactly what Health & Safety legislation applies and consequently are wondering at what age group do we draw the line - we are presently thinking no children under 12 years of age! Any information from people in similar circumstances would be greatly appreciated or any website addresses covering this subject would be soooo welcome.

As with so much in the field of H and S, a judhement has to be made, there are no laws that spell out in detail what you can and can't do. You must to all that is reasonably practicable to ensure safety. It's a balance between risk on the one side and inconvenience+cost on the other. You'll have to consider what you can do in the circumstances of those premises. A starting point will be to make sure all the relevant parents are aware of the danger. You may need warnming notices, perhaps even fences, life-saving equipment. This is not going to be an easy judgement to call but the starting point is that you must must must consider every possible situation, record it all on paper, and record what action you're taking in respect of each and every risk that you have identified. If you don't do that you'll be exposing yourself to a future risk of failure to do your duty.