This document introduces safe practice and health and safety for dancers. It defines safe practice as taking responsibility for one's own actions and the actions of others. Health and safety refers to policies that identify hazards and risks to prevent harm. The document explains that safe practice and health and safety are important for dancers to recognize risks, minimize risks, and protect themselves from injury. It also states that safe practice is important in dance to avoid injury, develop good habits, and properly care for one's body. The document provides information on warm ups, cool downs, and how the body develops through dance training.

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO SAFE
PRACTICE

2. What do we mean by the terms ‘Safe
Practice’ and ‘Health and Safety’?
Safe practice
refers to how we
look after and
take responsibility
for our own
behaviour, body
and actions and
that of the people
we are working
with.
Health and Safety is
the legal term for
policies, which are
there to ensure the
establishment and
individual recognise
potential hazards and
risks and put in place
measures to prevent
harm occurring.

3. Your Safe Practice pack will help you to
recognise the need for being aware of
safe practice and the health and safety
issues, which concern you as dancers.

4. WHY IS HEALTH AND SAFETY
IMPORTANT?
Recognise
and identify
risks in the
workplace
Minimise
potential
risks
HEALTH AND
SAFETY
Keep you safe
and healthy
Know what
procedures
are in place
Protect
people from
harm
Protect the
success of
the business
It is Law in
every work
environment

5. Why is safe practice important in
dance?
Know how
to assess the
situation
Avoid taking
undue risk
Work in close
proximity to
others- need to
be able to trust
Keep you
mentally and
emotionally
safe too
Avoid short and
long term injury
Ensures you
develop good
habits not bad
ones
Develops your
responsibility
and self
discipline
Enables you to
look after
yourself properly

6. How does each body part develop
through Dance training?
Strength
Flexibility
Wider movement
range in joints
Control
Co-ordination

7. Warm Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7CqWO1vj0M
A warm up is the act of preparing for an athletic event or workout
by exercising or practicing for a short time beforehand.
Warming up appropriately and adequately allows the body to adjust from a
state of rest to that of exercise and, if carried out successfully, improves
performance and significantly reduces the chances of injury
The objective of the warm-up is to raise total body temperature and
muscle temperature to prepare the entire body for vigorous activity.

8. A Warm Up should include:
•
•
•
•
•
Circulation
Joints
Muscles
Nerves
Concentration/Relaxation
If you have finished a class during which you thoroughly
warmed up, and you have another one later in the
day, should you warm up again?

9. What is Cool Down?
The aim of the cool-down is to slowly
reduce the intensity of the body
movement, allowing the redistribution
of blood from the muscles to other
organs in the body and for the muscle
glycogen to be replenished more
efficiently.

10. Benefits of Cool Down
• Cool-down helps to ensure quick recovery from
exercise
• Cool-down ensures the removal of waste
products such as lactic acid, if the waste product
of exercise is not removed from the muscles
there will muscle soreness the next day.
• Stopping exercise too suddenly can cause pooling
of blood, which can cause soreness, fainting and
dizziness

11. Cool Down should include
• Muscles
• Circulation
• Heart Rate
• Blood/Organs

12. Quick Quiz!!