Teachers who wish to come on site and do their own assessment, have a chat to guides and the Visitor Services Officer are more than welcome to do so free of charge. The following notes will help teachers conduct their own risk assessments.
Please note: This is not a Risk Assessment. Teachers should follow DfES guidelines and write their own
Hazard Identified | Risk and To Whom | Existing Control Measures |
| Cars/ buses in the car parks | Could be bumped or knocked over. All visitors and staff | Children should be supervised by school staff. |
| Uneven paths around the site | Slip, fall, injury. All visitors and staff | Site staff give general verbal warning. |
| Some objects in handling collection may be heavy and occasionally some have sharp edges. | Trap fingers, drop onto feet, cuts, rips to clothing. All visitors and staff | Site staff give verbal warning about nature of handling collection. Its condition is monitored closely by site staff. |
| Mine tour - low roof in one area, dark, uneven floors, running water on ground in some areas. | Bumping head, tripping and falling. All visitors and staff | All visitors on the mine tour are given hard hats, lamps, and Wellingtons if they don't already have them. Site staff give verbal warnings about the potential hazards on the mine tour. |
| Lit candles are placed in various locations around the site. (Most are out of reach of the public.) Coal fires in mine shop and managers office - both behind fire guards. | Could burn self or clothing if stood too near. All visitors and staff | Site staff position themselves nearest the candle if it is not out of reach. They also give out verbal warnings about candles and the fires. |
| Many sets of steps are outdoors and so may be slippery in wet weather or may have leaves on them. | Slip and fall , injury. All visitors and staff | Most stairs have handrails. Verbal warnings are given by site staff. |
| Activities on the Washing Floor: Children use shovels, rakes, hammers. Running water. | Knocked by equipment , injury. Flying chips of rocks, injury. All visitors and staff. | Safety goggles are provided when children are using hammers to break up rocks. Site staff give verbal warnings about safe use of equipment and carrying out activities. School groups under supervision of Killhope staff. They also monitor the activity, stopping it if it should be unsafe. |
| Woodland Area: reservoir ponds. | Slipping into water. All visitors and staff | Life belts around pond edges. Site staff give verbal warnings about hazards in woodland area, and emphasise that school groups should always keep to the marked paths, and not go off ahead or alone. |
| Working / moving machinery at the Water Wheel, in the Jigger House and various other locations. | Trapping / knocking injuries. All visitors and staff | Machinery kept behind barriers and guards. Warning signs. Site staff give verbal warnings about safety near machinery. |
| Various pieces of old machinery and equipment are placed around the site. | Tripping and falling, bumping into, injuries. All visitors and staff | Site staff give verbal warnings about objects. |
| Streams and watercourses running through site. | Slipping at edge and falling, injuries. All visitors and staff | Site staff give verbal warnings about how to behave near the running water. |