Managing risks on your premises

Licensing partner at law firm TLT, Ewen Macgregor reviews how pub and bar owners and managers can effectively manage risk in their premises

The day to day running of your premises requires you to identify and mitigate various risks covering a wide range of legislation. This includes health and safety, fire safety and environmental protection.

General duty under your premises licence

In so far as your premises licence is concerned, as licence holder and/or DPS, your responsibility is not to eliminate every risk but to promote the licensing objectives. In short, identify risks, establishing who may be harmed and mitigate against that harm will stand you in good stead should the worst happen. There are a number of simple steps that you may want to consider as good practice:

Prevention of crime and disorder

If CCTV has been installed consider checking whether it's in full working order? How often is this checked. Are dates and times stamped on the recordings? Do appropriate members of staff have access  to the hard drive to be able to down load cctv where asked?

Are any policies relating to prevention of crime and disorder up to date (drugs, requirement for door supervisors, etc)?

Safeguarding of staff and customers is a serious issue that has become something of a touchstone for good operating practices. Have you adopted schemes such as Ask Angela/Ask Clive, or other measures to keep your customers and staff safe?

Prevention of public nuisance

Where is risk is identified, usually relating to music, garden use or dispersal at closing time, is there a robust policy in place that staff are trained in?

Public Safety

Often these are covered by other legislation but are relevant to good operation of your premises. Regular checks of fire alarm systems, fire escape routes, signage and decent opening and closing checks are essential processes for any premises.

Protection of children from harm

Policies such as ‘Challenge 25’, restricting hours children can be on the premises and/ or restricting access during particular events are all sensible measures to mitigate risks to children on site.

Specific conditions

Your premises licence will likely have conditions on it (outside of the mandatory conditions) that require some measures to be taken in relation to specific risks. Breach of a condition runs the risk of regulatory enforcement action and the possibility of a licence review or even prosecution in serious cases, so ensuring compliance is a critical part of managing risk. If you think a specific condition is an unfair burden or unnecessary, then rather than ignoring it, speak to the council about removing or amending the condition. This can often be achieved with a minor variation.

Training/ reviews

It is important that all relevant staff are fully trained in the policies that you have in place, not only insofar as the licensing objectives are concerned but your broader responsibilities to staff and customers. Policies should be regularly reviewed and if needed updated to ensure that they conform to best practice and changing circumstances. Likewise, records of staff training – and refresher training – should be signed, dated and available for inspection.

Conclusion Mitigating risks is an essential tool to effective management. Customers may not see the work that goes into this, but it is often reflected in their repeat custom- no-one likes feeling unsafe! The time invested in these measures, when done properly, pays dividends in reputation for being a great place to go.

Q&A 

Q. I want to use AI to help promote my venue – are there any risks I should be aware of?

Harnessed in the right way, AI can be an extremely powerful tool, but - like mixing the perfect cocktail - you need to get the legal mix right: A shot of data privacy (full GDPR compliant proof); 2 dashes of data security; A twist of intellectual property awareness (to avoid nasty copyright hangovers); A garnish of regular updates (to stay on top of the wave of new AI specific regulations coming into place). Remember to sip (or use) AI responsibly, and to check the recipe with your friendly lawyer, of course.

Q. A new entitlement to neonatal care leave and pay is coming into force in April – what do I need to know?

From 6 April, 2025, parents of babies needing neonatal care may be eligible for up to 12 weeks’ statutory neonatal care leave. Statutory neonatal care pay will be available at the statutory prescribed rate or 90% earnings for those meeting service and earnings criteria. Employers should update their policies, provide manager training, and inform employees about the changes before April 2025.

This article was first published in Pub & Bar.

This publication is intended for general guidance and represents our understanding of the relevant law and practice as at March 2025. Specific advice should be sought for specific cases. For more information see our terms & conditions.