Safety mission to check cemeteries after tragic death of Ciaran, aged 8
A COUNCIL is to launch an investigation into its cemeteries to identify if any headstones are a risk to visitors following the death of a schoolboy.
The local authority will examine 20 sites in the area, after a fatal accident inquiry into the death of a boy at a Glasgow cemetery saw unsafe gravestones, monuments and mausoleums laid down.
Ciaran Williamson, eight, was playing with friends in Craigton Cemetery, in south-west Glasgow, when a headstone fell on him in May 2015.
Now environment and infrastructure bosses are striving to make sure the same tragedy cannot happen in Renfrewshire.
The council has nine cemeteries within the local authority boundary but is also responsible for a further 11 closed churchyards.
It will seek external specialist support to inspect all cemeteries before compiling an action plan to tackle structures which pose a risk to the public.
The inspection programme will take around four months and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
The programme will have an initial focus on identifying and checking larger monuments and structures more than two metres in height.
A priority will also be given to the most frequently used cemeteries in the area, with Paisley’s Hawkhead Cemetery identified as a starting point because of its number of visitors.
Meanwhile, all of Renfrewshire Council cemeteries – with the exception of Broomward Cemetery and Elderslie – contain large headstones and memorial structures that have the potential to pose a risk to visitors, staff and contractors.
If a headstone is leaning it will either be taken down by hand or mechanical means to ensure it becomes safe.
Visits to closed cemeteries will also be planned early in the programme as there is uncertainty surrounding their condition and the type of structure they contain.
However, while the council has health and safety responsibilities for cemeteries, the lairs are not its property. If work needs to be done on lairs then staff will contact the last known holder.