January RugbySafe Newsletter
Happy New Year to you all. We hope you had a safe and enjoyable Christmas!
We are looking forward to supporting you with your RugbySafe initiatives throughout
2024!
The first news to make you aware of is the suite of new Player Welfare Tools
becoming available in early 2024:
• New version of the Howden Risk Assessment Tool
• HEADCASE Concussion GRAS (Graduated Return to Activity & Sport)
Tracking provided by Proactive
The HEADCASE Concussion GRAS Tracker will enable your clubs to monitor and
support players and provide guidance for parents when players are returning from
concussion incidents. If your club is not already using Proactive click here for more
information.
The new version of the Risk Assessment Tool is designed provide an easy-to-use
template to assist your club in ensuring first aid specific risks are assessed, the new
version allows for actions plans to be developed to manage these risks. It will also
support you in your compliance with Regulation 9 first aid risk assessment
completion.
Keep an eye out on our social media channels for the release of the updated Risk
Assessment Tool and the release of the HEADCASE Concussion GRAS Tracker on
Proactive in the coming weeks.
Toolkit Spotlight: Community Rugby First Aid Provision and Information
This toolkit contains essential information for clubs and other rugby activity
organisers on recommended pitch-side first aid/immediate care provision for training
and matches. It provides details on the minimum requirements and best practice for
first aid provision at different levels in both the adult and age grade community
game.
For your Club and individuals, it contains details on the specific roles of the
Emergency First Aider and the Immediate Care Practitioner.
The training section gives information on the RFU’s Emergency First Aid in Rugby
Union (EFARU) course, as well as information on what to look out for when
organising courses with other providers.
Emergency First Aider and the Immediate Care Practitioner.
The training section gives information on the RFU’s Emergency First Aid in Rugby
Union (EFARU) course, as well as information on what to look out for when
organising courses with other providers.
The toolkit can be accessed here
Emergency First Aid in Rugby Union (EFARU) Course Free Places.
It is an important part of your role to support your club in ensuring it has adequate numbers of first aiders for all training, matches and other rugby activities, as set out in Regulation 9.To support the achievement of this within the community game the RFU has provided your CB RugbySafe Leads with vouchers which allow you to book a place on an EFARU course free of charge.
Access to these vouchers is time limited, so if you have been allocated one you should look to book onto a course promptly, the voucher should have been allocated to a course by the end of this season, end of June 2024 (even if the course is planned for June 2024). If your club is looking to run a course and would like to take advantage of the voucher scheme you should contact your CB RugbySafe lead to discuss your needs.
To be eligible for any EFARU free places, your club MUST have a RugbySafe Lead listed and have declared that you have completed a First aid Risk Assessment for the season on GMS (your CB RSL will be able to check these via their monthly GMS report).
If you have any issues with accessing the EFARU course, please get in touch via Community Rugby Help: https://help.rfu.com/support/home
RugbySafe Conference 2024
On June 21st & 22nd 2024 we will be hosting the annual RugbySafe Conference. This RFU funded event is an opportunity to attend sessions featuring guest speakers and RFU staff looking at different topics within RugbySafe and wider player welfare topics. It is also a chance to interact and share ideas with other volunteers within community rugby.
The opportunity to attend this conference is initially offered to CB RugbySafe Leads, however we are hoping to increase our reach this year. We are aiming to have representation from every CB along with a group of Club RugbySafe Leads from across the country. Places are extremely limited, and registration of interest does not guarantee that
you will be invited to attend. However, if you are interested in attending, please contact your
CB RugbySafe Lead.
We are also keen to understand from you as Club RugbySafe Leads whether you would find it beneficial for us to run online and potentially face to face session/s during the season specifically aimed at supporting you in your role. If you feel this would be of benefit, again please contact your CB RugbySafe Lead.
Regulation 9: First Aid Risk Assessment Update.
As part of Regulation 9, you should be aware that clubs MUST complete an annual first aid (FA) risk assessment. Following the release of the new version of the Howden Risk Assessment Tool, we will be contacting every club to remind them of their responsibility to meet the requirements of Regulation 9, specifically completing
an FA risk assessment. More information is available in the Risk Assessment Section
of the Being RugbySafe Document.
Clubs should declare they have completed a FA risk assessment via the RugbySafe & Player Welfare section on their RFU Game Management System (GMS) profile.
Please keep a look out for our correspondence in early February.
We want to hear from you!
We know that you are all busy in your clubs and communities working to improve
understanding of RugbySafe initiatives and we would love to be able to share some of your
great work with the wider RugbySafe community.
If you have a good news story, an event or initiative please contact your CB RugbySafe Lead
to share the details – not only can we shine a positive spotlight on your club but there is also
a possibility of RugbySafe branded items heading your way!
RugbySafe social media channels
Keep up to date with all things RugbySafe:
• On Twitter @RugbySafe
• On RugbySafe Facebook here
• On Instagram @RugbySafe
• On Threads @RugbySafe
Club Support Hub & other support resources
Are you new to the RugbySafe team? If you have not done already, contact your CB RugbySafe Lead, they are there to support you and work with you on all things RugbySafe!
As a Club RugbySafe Lead, your first port of call for any questions should be the RugbySafe Toolkits or your CB RugbySafe Lead.
However, England Rugby also has the Help Portal, an online hub to help clubs access support quickly and easily.
