Forget ground anchors and foundations, a single upright monolithic slab of stone set straight into the ground is the safest way of fixing stone memorials in cemeteries, a new memorial safety group agreed at their first meeting in January.

The group, called the Memorial Safety Advisory Group (MSAG), was formed as the result of a meeting at Portcullis House in November (see NSS November issue) called by the Association of Burial Authorities (ABA) and hosted by Andrew Bennett MP, the chair of the Select Committee that examined the social and safety aspects of cemeteries last year.

The first meeting of the MSAG took place in the London offices of Zurich Municipal, who provide cemetery insurance to many local authorities and last year published, in association with the ABA, the Guide to Management of Safety in Burial Grounds.

The aim of setting up MSAG was to consider future methods of memorial construction, installation and maintenance so that graveyards are safer. The discussion was prompted by a number of injuries (especially to elderly people leaning on stones to help themselves up after tending graves) and even a few deaths.

At its first meeting, MSAG felt all headstones should be able to support the weight of an \'average\' person using the stone to pull themselves up from a kneeling position. They decided to seek expert advice about the weight or force that represented.

All headstones should then be required to comply to that safety level. MSAG set itself a target of producing draft guidelines within six months.

It will report back to a Burial & Cemeteries Advisory Group (BCAG) set up under the auspices of the Home Office to consider all matters raised by the Select Committee and the Government\'s subsequent response. BCAG held its first meeting in December and is due to make recommendations to the Government at the end of this year.

The Memorial Awareness Board (MAB), meanwhile, was holding a meeting at the House of Commons on 21 February at which Ian Hussain, cemetery and crematorium director for the City of London, would start a discussion on issues raised by the Select Committee such as the lack of space and re-use of graves, of particular interest in inner city areas.