Sports ground safety
Disastrous events at sports grounds such as Hillsborough in Sheffield, Valley Parade in Bradford and Ibrox led to the introduction of legislation to control the safety of sports grounds. The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 brought about the designation of stadia with a capacity of 10,000 or more. All designated stadia require to have a valid safety certificate and in addition require to obtain a special safety certificate in order to hold other public events, such as concerts, at the stadium. Within Perth and Kinross, this applies to McDiarmid Park, home of St Johnstone FC.
Later legislation has made it necessary for a safety certificate to be obtained for any stand at a sports grounds which can accommodate more than 500 spectators. At present, within Perth & Kinross this applies to the Nelson Stand at Scone Racecourse and the grandstand at The George Duncan Athletics Arena at Perth Grammar School.
It is Building Standards who apply this legislation and are responsible for the issue of safety certificates and special safety certificates, which are necessary when the stadium/ stand is to be used for events other than those of a sporting nature. We have our own application form for safety certificate [PDF: 36Kb] and are happy to assist if you have any questions.
In considering such applications, we liaise very closely with the clubs involved and also with other agencies through our membership of the Tayside Sports Ground Safety Team. The Team comprises representatives from the 3 Tayside Local Authorities, Police, Fire & Rescue Service, St Andrews Ambulance Association and Scottish Ambulance Service. Safety is an issue that is taken very seriously by all concerned and is far from being a paper exercise. Ultimately the responsibility for spectator safety lies with the clubs, however the application, by the clubs, of the conditions attached to the safety certificate are monitored by the Safety Team.
