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Death and bereavement
Memorial safety checksMichelle France - August 2008michelle.france@kirklees.gov.uk
Over the past few years there have been several accidents to members of the public in cemeteries across the country, several have been fatal.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) want councils to inspect memorials at least once every five years, making safe those that fail the inspection process. Some cemeteries throughout the country, that have been found with high numbers of unsafe headstones, have had "Disclosure Orders" placed on them by the HSE. It can result in them being closed down until the cemetery has been made safe. This affects members of the public who wish to visit friends and relatives buried in the cemetery and those who want to hold funerals during this time. We appreciate that testing and making safe memorials may cause upset to bereaved families, but our priority has to be the safety of those people visiting cemeteries.
For any memorial which has been classified Red or Amber, we write to the owners, providing we have up to date records. We inform them of the safety inspection's findings and offer advice.
If there is a problem with the stability of the memorial we stake and band the memorial.
Responsibility in the first instance rests with the purchaser or owner of the memorial, or the stonemason or the person who puts the memorial up. In
most instances, memorials are many years old and the purchaser or owner has either moved away or has passed on and no family member is currently
maintaining it.
Memorial masons who have erected these memorials may also have moved away or retired. The High Court has ruled that where a memorial mason had erected a memorial properly it should stand for at least 30 years without repair.
The records of many owners are extremely old and have not been updated by current relatives or family members. There have been notices posted within
the cemetery grounds about the safety inspection process. We contacted the Wakefield Diocese for permission to carry out the testing in the
consecrated areas. We encourage all memorial owners or visitors to the graves to update current contact details so that we may keep them informed of
future memorial inspections. You can contact Bereavement Services to update your contact details.
We understand that this may be upsetting for you, and apologise for any distress it may cause.
If your memorial has had a temporary fixing to make it safe and/or a warning notice attached, you can choose to either:
You can arrange for a registered memorial mason to inspect your memorial for safety, or ask for a safety inspection from a trained member of our staff.
Alternatively you can get in touch with the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM): If you are concerned about your family memorial, or even just for peace of mind, we strongly recommend insurance cover. A registered memorial mason will know of a company that offers this. Keep your contact details up to date with the cemetery office.
Contact the Institute of Crematorium and Cemetery Management (ICCM):
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Accredited monumental masons (PDF 38kb)
