Health & Safety Update (August 2010)

Vuvuzela Ban

Several English football clubs have banned vuvuzelas from their grounds on match days due to safety concerns.

Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Arsenal are the highest-profile clubs to announce that the plastic horns will not be allowed inside their stadia. The instrument came to prominence during the recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa. However, television stations airing the matches were flooded with complaints from viewers about the 'droning' noise created by thousands of fans continuously blowing the instrument during the games.

Spurs banned the horns amid fears that the noise could prevent fans from hearing safety announcements. A statement on the club's official website said: "We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium poses unnecessary risks and could impact on the ability of all supporters to hear any emergency safety announcements."

West Ham United has also introduced a ban stating that the instruments could potentially be used as a weapon.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would not be drawn on whether it supports calls for a widespread ban, but acknowledged that the horns could potentially cause hearing damage. A HSE spokesman said: "As with any source of high sound levels, vuvuzelas could potentially cause hearing damage under certain circumstances and where there is such a risk we would expect an employer to take proportionate, sensible measures to protect their employees.