Cemetery Safety inspections

Burnley Borough Council hereby notifies owners of grave headstones and persons visiting cemeteries that safety inspections are continuing in Burnley and Padiham cemeteries

The Council has a duty, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to ensure that memorials are safe and has authority under the Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977 to take appropriate action to remove the danger.

If a memorial is inspected and found to be unsafe, immediate action will be taken to reduce the risk of injury to the public by installing a temporary make-safe to support the memorial or in some cases by laying down the headstone.

In each case a yellow safety-warning label will be attached to the memorial to advise owners that the headstone has been tested unsafe and to contact the Cemetery Office. We will also try to notify in writing to the last known address of the owners of the grave(s) in which there has been a burial within the last 40 years or in older graves where the grave is clearly tended.

For more information please contact Bereavement Services