Health and Safety

All members of The Air Cadets Organisation (ACO) have a duty of care to themselves and others. This means using appropriate health and safety procedures to ensure that all activities are carried out safely and within the law.

This includes the identification of hazards and implementation of control measures through the risk management process where appropriate. For this reason all adult volunteers and uniformed staff have the opportunity, and are encouraged to undertake Health & Safety (H&S) training.

The official print

Through its association with the Royal Air Force, the ACO is an organisation within the Ministry of Defence (MOD). As such, the Secretary of State for Defence requires all members of the ACO to comply with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This applies to all uniformed and non-uniformed formations within the Royal Navy, RAF, Army and MOD.

Our H&S manual

ACP 5 contains information about H&S duties, the current legislation and official MOD directives. All staff, particularly those involved in exercises and adventurous activities, should be familiar with this guide and understand it’s content.

Risk Assessment

A Risk Assessor (RA) training course is on offer to all staff through Wing HQ. The RA course has been tailored to ACO activities and includes workshops and exercises that teach you how to conduct a risk assessment using a step-by-step process. A short test is given at the end of the course. If both exercises and test are passed then an RA certificate will be awarded.

Used correctly, the risk assessment procedure will enable you and those taking part in the activity to identify potential risks, implement the necessary control procedures and act quickly if something goes wrong.

The Activity Commander is responsible for carrying out a risk assessment before an exercise or activity.

For more information see our page on Health & Safety contacts.