Institute of Imagination ELM Science Fair · risk assessment
Saturday 29 August 2026

Risk assessment

London Muslim Centre, ground floor large room. This page carries the actions: what has to be done before the day and on it, and who does each one. The assessment itself is written, as one sheet per station, and is in the repository rather than on this site.

41
actions
Across 6 owners, plus three asks still to go to East London Mosque.
7
stations
Nine activities across them, one room, one entrance.
42
hazards assessed
31 at the stations, 11 in the room. Every one scored.
11
rows not settled
Marked proposed or open on the sheet they sit on.
3
tools with an induction
Chompsaws, glue guns, rotary tool. Nobody uses one before the induction on it.

The detail is not on this page, and that is deliberate. The hazards, who is at risk, how each hazard causes harm, the control measures and the risk scores are in the assessment itself, in the five-column form iOi has used since 2018 and against the 3×3 likelihood by severity matrix. It is written: seven station sheets and one for the room, assessed by Liber, each on a single double-sided A4 and printed to PDF. It is an internal working document and is deliberately not on this site, so it lives at risk-assessments/ in this folder. What this page does is carry the work that surrounds it: what has to be done, by whom, and when.

The evidence behind the format, drawn from four earlier iOi assessments and one earlier event plan, is risk-assessment-research.md in the project root.

When the actions land

  1. Before the day Decisions, staffing and packingThe two open decisions on the tools get made, the volunteers get their stations, and everything that has to travel is checked and packed.
  2. Fri 28, 15:00 At the venueLiber and Muireann lay out the tables and the decorations. It is the first time anyone from iOi is in the room, so it is where the fire exits, the sockets and the walkways get looked at.
  3. Sat 9:00 – 10:00 SetupThe tool area first, because it takes the mains socket. Cables, walkways and every tool checked before anyone is in the room.
  4. Sat 9:30 – 10:00 The briefing, then the station briefings and the tool inductionsOne all-team briefing, then each facilitator takes their own volunteer. Half an hour holds all three, which is the tightest part of the day.
  5. Sat 10:00 – 17:30 The day runsDrop-in, continuous arrival, seven and a half hours. The tool area is open only while somebody is on it.
  6. Sat 17:30 – 18:00 Pack downTools counted back in one by one. Forms collected. Everything left packed and labelled for Tuesday.

Liber

Before the day
ActionWhen
Liber facilitates the tool areaOne station, two tables, held by Liber and its inducted volunteer (Liber, 28 August), in charge of both the adults’ and the children’s tools. Supersedes 27 August, when the station was to run on its volunteer alone.settled 28 Aug
Allocate the two unallocated volunteers to stationsFour are confirmed and two have a station against them.before Friday
Chompsaws are used from age 5iOi's line (Liber, 27 August), against the manual's recommended 8. The fair is advertised from 7, so nobody arriving is below it. Supervision and induction unchanged.settled 27 Aug
The rotary tool is not available to the publicStaff and inducted volunteers only (Liber, 27 August), never handed to a child. The job is one hole per bottle top. Nothing holds the work, so who holds the tool is the control.settled 27 Aug
Two first aiders on site all day: Muireann and LiberBoth first aid trained. Muireann is on Sounds of the Universe and Liber across the tool area, the Materials area and Nature in Motion, so both are at a station rather than free, and the briefing has to say where to find them.settled 26 Aug
Say what happens at the welcome deskPhoto permission, the do-not-photograph sticker, and who is on it.before Friday
Charge the rotary toolThree hours to charge, ninety minutes of running, USB-C.Thu 27
Pack the incident report forms, and check the first aid pack's use-by dateswith the delivery

Liber and Muireann, at the venue on Friday

Friday 28 August, from 15:00
ActionWhen
Walk the fire exits, and ask Rawaha where the assembly point isThe exits are drawn on ELM's plan. The assembly point is recorded nowhere, and this is where it gets answered (Liber, 27 August).Fri 28
Find the sockets, and put the tool area on one, clear of the walkwayTwo sockets and a USB-C point between the two tool tables.Fri 28
Leave a clear route round every table as the tables go outNothing across a doorway, nothing a buggy cannot get past.Fri 28

Jen, the point of contact on the day

On the day
ActionWhen
Run the all-team briefingEveryone in the room at once, before the station briefings. The fire route, the assembly point, where the first aid pack is and who to take a need to, the volunteer rule, photo permissions, and that children stay with their adult.Sat 9:30
Confirm fire, first aid and access with the venue at the briefingWhatever has not arrived in writing by Friday gets settled here, out loud, with everyone present.Sat 9:30
Brief the volunteers on the safeguarding rulesNever alone with children, no personal phones on the floor, no photographs, and what to do if a child says something.Sat 9:30
Be the point of contact for anything that happensJames is not on site. Everything goes to Jen: a concern, an injury, a near miss, a family somebody is unsure about. Said out loud at the briefing, so nobody has to work out who to find.Sat 10:00 – 17:30
Hold the incident report forms, and record anything that happensIncluding a small injury. It goes through the iOi reporting route afterwards.Sat 10:00 – 18:00
Collect the photo permission forms at pack-downSat 17:30

Jen, photographs

On the day
ActionWhen
Set the permission forms and the do-not-photograph stickers out at the welcome deskBefore the doors open, with whoever is on the desk.Sat 9:30
Photograph only against the permissions the event holdsNobody wearing a sticker, and nobody who has not been asked.Sat 10:00 – 17:30

Every facilitator

On your own station
ActionWhen
Check every tool on your table and take any damaged one out of useSat 9:00 – 10:00
Tape or trunk any cable that crosses a walkwaySat 9:00 – 10:00
Put the spares in a box, off the floor and out of reachSmall parts are the ones to watch: lenses, Blu Tack, LEGO, bottle caps.Sat 9:00 – 10:00
Brief your volunteer at the stationWhat the activity is, what a child makes, what is out of reach. The volunteer guide is what the briefing follows.Sat 9:30 – 10:00
Induct your volunteer on every tool they will usePer tool, not per station. Glue guns are on the Materials area and Wind Tunnel lists as well as the tool area.Sat 9:30 – 10:00
Never leave your volunteer alone with childrenIf you have to step away and nobody has taken your place, the station stops until you are back.Sat 10:00 – 17:30
Never leave the glue guns or the rotary tool unattendedSat 10:00 – 17:30
Take the tool off anyone using it wronglyThe tool comes away, not the child.Sat 10:00 – 17:30
Take anything that happens to JenA concern, an injury, a near miss, a family you are unsure about. James is not on site.Sat 10:00 – 18:00

Every volunteer

These are also in the volunteer guide, which is the page a volunteer reads. Nothing here is asked of a volunteer that is not written there too.

On the day
ActionWhen
Find the fire exit and the assembly point at the briefingAsk if it is not said.Sat 9:30
Ask for your induction on every tool you will useBefore you touch it, not after. Say so if you have not been shown something.Sat 9:30 – 10:00
Keep the route round your table clearBags, boxes and spares off the floor.Sat 10:00 – 17:30
Never hold the station aloneNot for five minutes. If your facilitator has to go and nobody replaces them, the station stops.Sat 10:00 – 17:30
Take no photographs, and keep your own phone off the tableSat 10:00 – 17:30
Take no child anywhereToilets, a parent, lost property: it goes to your facilitator.Sat 10:00 – 17:30
Tell your facilitator about anything that happensIncluding a small injury, and including something a child says that worries you. It goes from them to Jen.Sat 10:00 – 18:00
Reset the table between visitors, and help pack downOffcuts cleared, tools back in the pot, nothing sharp or hot left where a child reaches.Sat 10:00 – 18:00

With East London Mosque

Still to ask
ActionWhen
The fire exit plan for the room, and where the assembly point isQuestion 14 on the list, widened. The exits are on the floor plan; the assembly point is not.before Friday
Where the sockets areQuestion 4. Four are needed: two tool tables, the wind tunnel fan, and charging.before Friday
Who provides first aid cover across the fair, and where they sitbefore Friday
Whether volunteers need photo ID to get inBoth the Marner guide and the old ELM one told volunteers to bring it. Nothing on file says East London Mosque asks for it, and the one arrival fact on record points the other way.Fri 28

What the first aid kit has to hold

Read off the harm column of the eight assessment sheets: every kind of injury they name, and the thing that answers it. Five activity records already say cleaning wipes and plasters and nothing more, which covers the cuts and none of the rest. The counts are a starting figure for a seven-and-a-half hour drop-in, not a calculation.

ItemCountWhat it answers
Assorted plasters, latex free1 boxCuts, on five stations. Scissors, craft knives, the cut edge of a bottle, cardboard. Latex free because balloons are latex and the latex row on two sheets carries no control.
Sterile cleaning wipes20The same cuts. This and the plasters are the only two things the activity records name.
Sterile gauze swabs10A cut a plaster will not cover: the craft knife at the junk bank, the bottle edge, the rotary tool bit.
Sterile wound dressings, medium2Bleeding that needs pressure held on it.
Microporous tape1 rollHolding a dressing on.
Disposable gloves, nitrile1 boxAnything bleeding. Nitrile, not latex, for the same reason as the plasters.
Burn gel dressings, 10 × 10 cm2Burns are on three sheets and in no iOi kit on file. Glue guns at the tool area, the Materials area and Wind Tunnel, and the chompsaw cutting head, which is hot straight after use.
Sterile eye wash, 20 ml pods4Fine dust in an eye. The rotary tool makes it and so does the chompsaw, and there is no eye protection: iOi has no safety glasses, so this is the only thing that answers it.
Eye pad dressing2A wound elastic band letting go at the vehicle table. It is the only row left at the fair whose named harm is an eye injury.
Fine point tweezers1Splinters. Wooden skewers, dowels, lolly sticks and kebab sticks are on three material lists.
Shears1Cutting a dressing. Not the activity scissors.
Instant cold packs2Knocks. A LEGO buggy underfoot, a trip on a lead, and the lifting row, whose only exposed group is staff.
Triangular bandage2Support for an arm after a fall.
Foil blanket1Shock. Not the emergency blankets on the Wind Tunnel list, which are a making material.
Hand sanitiser1The hygiene row. Straws, balloons and paper cups go in mouths, and the magnifier table handles visitors' own phones.
Incident report forms and a pen1 padEvery injury, however small, goes to Jen and gets written down. Already on Liber's list to pack.

Three things are deliberately not in it.

Nothing for choking. Six rows across the sheets name it: lenses, Blu Tack, LEGO, bottle caps, split pins, crocodile clips and burst balloons. No kit item answers a blocked airway. It needs a trained person, and the two are Muireann and Liber, both of whom are running a station, which is why the briefing has to say where they are.

No medicines of any kind, including painkillers and antihistamines.

The wind tunnel fan repair kit is not a first aid kit. It holds dowels, cable ties, a hook and pliers, and the activity record says so in as many words. It should not be stored with this.

What this record still needs

Everything below this line comes off before the link goes out and nothing above it does

Questions for you

Two came off on 26 August. Who writes and signs it: Liber does, and owns it. Who is the first aider: Muireann and Liber, both trained, both on site all day.

1 · Does the half hour at 9:30 hold an all-team briefing as well?

The English Martyrs plan gave the briefing twenty minutes of its own, with volunteers arriving an hour after the staff. At ELM the same half hour holds the arrival, the station briefings and the tool inductions, and the doors open at 10:00.

2 · Do families get told that children stay with their adult?

Every family-event assessment iOi has written says it, in those words. The ELM record says it nowhere, and this is a ticketed public fair with a drop-in room, not a school visit.

3 · Is there a photo permission process, or does ELM's cover us?

Jen carries the photographs and nothing describes how permission is taken. The fair is ticketed, so ELM may already be collecting it, and iOi has never relied on someone else's permissions before.

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