MAAA Wingspan

MAAALogo. 5 Although we all do our best to avoid potential dangers in our day-to-day lives, you never really know what is around the corner and proceeding with care is always advisable. The same goes with our aeromodelling clubs and the potential risks and hazards for both members and the public that can arise during normal everyday operations. For added assurance, it’s good practice to assess potential risks in advance by carrying out a Risk Assessment that identifies problems that could happen before they do happen, providing opportunities for clubs to make appropriate changes accordingly. After all, as the old saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry. There appears to be a fear for people who don’t have practical experience of Risk Assessment that undertaking such an assessment will result in a multitude of rules, which won’t enable them to continue operating their club activities in the same general way again. However, normally, provided there aren’t any serious problems with the way that an activity is organised, this often isn’t the case. Usually the changes required are easy to undertake and don’t have a major impact on the running of the club. With these changes in place, the club activity can proceed by adopting a safer practice moving forward with added peace-of-mind assurance. However, even if everyone involved with the MAAA follows all the rules and guidance that exist for model aircraft, (see CASR 1998 Part 101, MAAA Rules and Club Rules here there will always be some risks around every location. While it would be easy to ignore potential problems, with the view that they will never likely occur, carrying out an annual Risk Assessment enables your club to be proactive with potential dangers and serves as guidance on how to best manage them. The assessment can also become part of your club’s minutes during meetings for annual review. Please note, that the MAAA provides guidance for many situations, either covered in the MOPs or elsewhere. However, these can only serve as a guide, as it may not make sense to apply them universally without some adaptation to suit local conditions, with a subsequent decision made on what to do. The intent of the guidance should always be considered when looking at how to do things locally and then to adapt them accordingly for an individual situation. The MAAA recommends that clubs carry out their own Risk Assessment based on the procedure documented in MOP022. This should be repeated at intervals as determined by the club. A Risk Assessment should occur if there is a significant change in the method of operation and on a routine basis, depending on factors such as, the result of previous assessments, the occurrence of a potential hazardous situation, the level of activity, an evolving operational practice or a specific request from a club member. In the absence of any special factors, a Risk Assessment carried out once every 12 months would be considered appropriate. It’s simply good practise to assess potential risks for members and for the public who attend your facility- especially during events, by carrying out this annual assessment of your club environment. So, be safe rather than sorry by clicking here to access our Risk Assessment template to enable your aeromodelling club to be proactively prepared for any potential occurrence: Remember Safety is no Accident. Safety Matters: RISK assessments MATTER WE EXPLORE THE IMPORTANCE AND PEACE OF MIND CREATED FOR YOUR MEMBERS BY CARRYING OUT AN ANNUAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF YOUR CLUB’S ENVIRONMENT. 0 AUGUST WING SPAN Risk Assessment guidance is available from the MAAA website, under the Manual of Procedures MOP022, (please click here) Forms are also available from the MAAA website too