The owner, for example a community association, charitable trust, or local authority, is likely to have health and safety duties (and fire safety duties) for those who use the hall where they still have control over it. For example, they should keep it in good repair, and have appropriate fire precautions in place.

Owners may delegate responsibility to others to manage the premises, and this may include voluntary organisations such as a management committee. Where a change of ownership takes place, both parties should make clear who has responsibility for health and safety. This may take the form of a written contract

A management committee can be regarded as a legal entity under health and safety law, even if it doesn't employ anyone and is only made up of volunteers.

It has no responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act for risks created by the work activity of others, such as those maintaining the building, or for the activities organised by those who use the hall.

However, where a management committee has control over the hall, they should take reasonable measures to ensure that the following are safe for the expected use:

• the building
• the access and egress to it
• any equipment or substances provided there

Where more than one person or organisation has control over a building, they will all have joint responsibility for it.

The HSE have developed a simple checklist (PDF) which summarises the areas you may need to consider if your organisation has responsibilities for managing a hall. These include:

• asbestos
• fire
• legionnaires' disease
• movement around the building
• electrical equipment and services
• gas equipment and services
• car park – access for emergency vehicles etc

Risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what could cause harm to people, so that you can decide whether you are doing enough to prevent that harm.

 A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork, but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your club. The law does not expect you to remove all risks, but to protect people by putting in place measures to control those risks. You are probably already taking steps to protect your employees and others who may be affected by your club activities, but your risk assessment will tell you whether you should be doing more.

You only need to do a risk assessment if you are an employer or a self-employed person. If you have fewer than five employees you don't have to write anything down but it is a good idea to keep a record. For further guidance, see our Ten safety essentials for all businesses.

If you are hiring a facility to play sport and/or hold an event, then as users you may have a duty to manage risks, so far as reasonably practicable, arising from your own activities. The extent of your duty will depend on the degree of control you have over of the premises and any substances and plant (sports equipment) provided for use there.

Owners and/or those responsible for managing a hired facility will also have a duty to make sure the facility provides a healthy and safe place for people to use. The HSE have developed a simple checklist (PDF) , which summarises the areas you may need to consider if your organisation owns or has responsibilities for managing premises like a changing room or clubhouse.

There is no need to duplicate work and/or create unnecessary paperwork. As a user, all you need to do is familiarise yourself with the owner/manager's facility checklist and, if necessary, supplement it with your own assessment of any significant risks.

You only need to do a risk assessment if you are an employer or a self-employed person. However, this shouldn't be necessary before every session unless something significant has changed which could lead to a new hazard, in which case it would make sense to stop and review what you are doing.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are not a requirement under workplace health and safety law. For details about the relevant legislation and who needs them, contact the Disclosure and Barring Service. 

Some clubs may require licenses  for matters that are not covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and its regulations, for example to sell alcohol or host live music events. You should see our Licensing section for more information. 

You will also need to ensure that you have suitable fire precautions in place;

• A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire
• Small and medium places of assembly
• Large places of assembly

Fire safety precautions are enforced by Lancashire Fire and Rescue and not the Council.