Education Sector – Useful Health & Safety
Information
Why Health & Safety is important to this sector
There has been much media attention focused on the application
of health and safety within the education sector and many myths
have been created about poor interpretation of legislation such as
‘conkers bonkers’ and the banning of educational visits and field
trips. An important part of a child’s education is to be exposed to
a range of controlled hazards to ensure that the child becomes risk
‘savvy’ and not risk averse. Although the emphasis on safety is
directed towards children and the duty of care that staff have ‘in
loco parentis’, the legal duty to ensure staff work safely may
sometimes be overlooked.
The changing face of education and extended use of schools
encompass a wide rage of complex activities often found in
specialised industries, resulting in the exposure to risks not
normally associated with this sector.
There have been a number of fatalities reported across a wide
range of activities such as school trips, maintenance work,
cleaning, serving school meals and one off unplanned activities.
Despite the current initiative to reduce bureaucracy around health
and safety in the education sector, statutory duty has not been
amended, there is no change to legislation and the principle
guidance in approved codes of practice has not been updated.
By having an effective health and safety system in place and
access to competent advice Governing Bodies, Management Committees
and Head Teachers can minimise the incidence of litigation against
schools and allow staff to concentrate on the educational needs of
the pupils in a happy and safe environment.
Situation where you might need Health & Safety support
Health and Safety is about sensible, proportionate actions that
protect people, not unnecessary bureaucracy. As well as to your own
employees, you also have duties towards pupils, contractors,
visitors and others who may be affected by your activities such as
neighbours and members of the public.
Stress has become one of the major causes of workplace absence
in the UK and has a high prevalence in the education sector. Mentor
can provide guidance and support to enable schools to identify and
manage the stressors which can lead to ill health and potentially
long term absence.
The legal requirement for undertaking risk assessment in a
school environment can be particularly onerous and daunting when
considering the range of activities such as theoretical and
practical learning, vocational activities, educational visits and
field trips, sports activity, catering and maintenance tasks.
Mentor can provide guidance, support and training to ensure that
risk assessments are suitable and sufficient.
Actions you may need to take
- Ensure you hold Employers Liability Insurance and display the
certificate in a public area
- Make sure you have someone competent to help you meet your
health and safety duties by training an individual or seeking
external advice
- Decide how you're going to manage health and safety within your
school
- Decide what could harm people and what precautions you need to
take using the risk assessment process
- Provide health and safety training to your staff and
pupils
- Consider setting up a safety committee and a consultation
process
- Display the health and safety law poster
- Undertake regular inspections of the workplace
- Report certain work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous
occurrences
RBS
Mentor can help you
with all of these aspects – be it through auditing your current
documents, liaising with and supporting your appointed Competent
Person, providing 24/7 advice or providing training.
Result of doing/Not doing something
Health and safety laws will be enforced by inspectors from HSE
or an enforcement officer from your local council. Inspectors and
enforcement officers are legally empowered to:
- Visit schools without notice
- Investigate accidents or complaints and inspect safety, health
and welfare aspects of your school
- Talk to employees and safety representatives, take photographs
and samples
- Receive co-operation and answers to questions
If there is a problem, they may issue a formal notice requiring
improvements or, where serious danger exists, a notice that
prohibits the use of a process or equipment. For the most serious
breaches of health and safety law, they may prosecute a firm or an
individual (or report to the Procurator Fiscal with a view to
prosecution in Scotland).
RBS
Mentor can support
you in ensuring you workplace and/or site is safe and complies with
legislation. By helping you instil a safety culture through
providing the correct documentation and working with your staff to
get them confident about Risk Assessments, as well as supporting
you with a 24/7 advice line, you can be confident you are in the
best position to keep your workers safe.