A recent discussion in the exec explored the issue of Health and Safety in our clubs. We were interested to know if badminton England had a stance. With the help of Leanne Brown (our rep) we now know a bit more. Best practise for any club is to have a trained first aider (or more) in the ranks. Where a club uses the facilities of a Sports Centre, and that is most of us, the staff usually have the necessary qualifications and skills to handle most minor mishaps. There are a small number of clubs who may not have this available to them as they play in community centres or schools. We would encourage those clubs to consider having some training and at the very least have a basic first aid kit available.

If a club is either a 'Premier' club or aspires to become so (premier clubs for Badminton England is a club mark denomination) then first aid training is a requirement. Also it appears that Coaching qualifications now encourage first aid training and is a requirement for level 2 coaches.