Golf Safety Audits

Safety Audits of Courses and Ranges

What is a golf safety audit?

A safety Audit is often the pre-cursor to an Expert Witness Report but it may also be used where the Parties involved ina  dispute agree to commission a review of safety in a particular instance. 

An audit will examine a particular location, often a single golf hole or a boundary situation and review the safety of that situation compared to the safety guidance available. For instance where balls are flying over netting of a driving range built immediately next to a housing estate, the assessment may deliver expert opinions on

• was the range built in accordance with planning permission

• the trajectory of golf balls

• the alignment of bays

• any protective measures

• the likelihood of an accident

• possible measures which may be taken to reduce the risk of balls continuing to exit the outfield

How is an audit different from a risk assessment?

A Risk Assessment should deal with all risks at a course, driving range, building or working practice.  A Safety Audit can be used to identify risks which are then addressed in a Risk Assessment. 

Where the issue involves a single location, the Parties may request design input into possible measures to deal with the problem. Design recommendations are not normally part of any Risk Assessment.

There are many situations when it is necessary to audit safety. Examples of this include

• planning applications

• new course routings

• errant balls exiting boundaries

• proximity of holes to other holes

• design / layout of the golf course or driving range

• visibility

• overhead pylons

• waterbodies

• property safety

• multi storey ranges

• operations and risk mitigation

Auditing safety may involve incidents, accidents or even be used by agreeing parties to arrive at safety problem solutions.