HomeMemorial safety programme
Making sure our cemeteries are safe to visit and work in is a requirement of our job.
There have been a small number of tragic incidents in other areas where people have been killed or injured as a result of unsafe memorials and headstones.
So far, we have checked almost 3,000 headstones and memorials in Belfast City Cemetery to check they are secure. Families whose headstones have failed our assessment have been contacted, and we are currently making sure any graves which have been classified as dangerous.
The work is the result of a directive from the Health and Safety Executive, the organisation responsible for cemetery safety in the UK.
We will then extend the inspection programme to our other cemeteries, subject to resources.
As Belfast City Cemetery is the largest of our cemeteries, we will complete the work in stages.
Work will begin in the oldest part of the cemetery first, at the junction of Falls Road and Whiterock Road, followed by inspections of the Glenalina section of the site.
- who will carry out the inspections?
- what do the inspections involve?
- when will memorials be assessed?
- who is responsible for repairing memorials?
