A Commons Library briefing paper considers the issue of memorial (headstone) safety and actions to address the risk of accidents caused by unstable memorials in cemeteries in England and Wales.
The paper says that the issue of memorial safety has been highlighted by cases where memorials have toppled over and caused injuries, sometimes fatal, to members of the public (in particular, the death of a child in Yorkshire in 2000).
Available data showed that, in 2007, 21 serious accidents had been reported to the Health and Safety Executive over the previous seven years. While 2009 data showed that over the previous 30 years, eight people in the UK were killed when a memorial fell on them. However, the guidance adds that, in view of the number of memorials and the number of visitors to burial grounds in any year, the risk of any injury is extremely low.
The paper also discusses responsibility for maintaining memorials, local authority testing of memorials, concerns about testing, guidance on managing the safety of memorials in cemeteries and how to complain about unsafe memorials.
Read the Local Government Ombudsman’s Safety testing in cemeteries and graveyards controlled by councils factsheet
Read the full story and download the full report
