Health and Safety in schools
Health and safety measures should be aimed at all members of the school
community, including visitors to the school and in particular, children. Such
measures should enable children to experience a wide range of activities safely not
prevent them from taking part in them. Children need to understand and manage
risks that are part of everyday life.
Health and safety procedures should be put in place with a common sense approach
to the assessment and management of the risks of any activity and staff should be
given appropriate training to enable to keep themselves and children safe.
The Law
The principal piece of legislation is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the
regulations made under the Act - The Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 are particularly important.
The local authority, governing body, proprietor or other employing body is
responsible for health and safety but tasks associated with its implementation may
be delegated. Employees have a duty to look after their own and the health and
safety of others.
Employers, school staff and others have a duty under common law to take care of
children.
Claims for negligence are mostly brought against employers who have public liability
insurance and not against individual members of staff. It is rare for criminal
prosecutions to be brought against school staff with regard to accidents involving
children.
The Health and Safety Executive [HSE] are mainly interested in risks arising from
serious breaches of the law. The HSE policy statement School trips and outdoor
learning activities: Tackling the health and safety myths
http://www.hse.gov.uk/services/education/school-trips.pdf explains this. The
document clarifies that the HSE seeks to encourage schools and local authorities to
focus on real risks, not the paperwork, and explains what is taken into account when
a decision is made whether or not to prosecute following an incident.
Any civil proceedings in negligence taken against schools are only likely to be
successful if the school has not taken care of a child in the way a parent would have
done, if as a result the child was injured and the injury was foreseeable.
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Assessment and Management of Risks
Employers are required by law to assess the risks to the health and safety of staff
and others affected by their activities. Risk assessment and risk management
describe the process of considering the risks of any activity and measures taken to
counter them.
In schools, risk assessment and risk management are tools to enable children to
participate safely in activities and not to prevent activities from taking place. Risk
management cannot remove risk altogether but should avoid excessive or
unnecessary paperwork.
Some activities, such as those away from school, may involve higher levels of risk. If
the activity is an annual or infrequent event, a review of an existing risk assessment
may be appropriate. A new activity requires a specific assessment of risks to be
carried out. The head teacher should make sure the person performing the
assessment task has an understanding of the risks involved and is familiar with the
planned activity. If a risk assessment is carried out, the employer must record any
significant findings of the assessment.
Schools do not need to carry out risk assessments each time an activity that is a part
of the normal school day is undertaken, any risks of routine activities should be
considered as part of the general health and safety policies and procedures of the
school. All that is needed are regular checks to ensure that the precautions are still
suitable.
Further information is available in NAHT SM13 - Managing Risk Assessment
Employers’ duties
The employer is required by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to take
reasonable steps to make sure staff and pupils are not exposed to risks to their
health and safety. This applies to activities both on and off the school site.
Regulations made under the Act give more detail of the actions employers must take.
For example, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
require employers to:
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Assess the risks that school activities will have on staff and others to
establish the necessary health and safety measures and in certain situations
to record the findings of the assessment;
Introduce measures to manage risks;
Inform employees about the risks and measures taken to manage them;
Ensure employees receive adequate training on health and safety matters.
Schools are required to set out health and safety arrangements in a written policy. A
template that any employer can use to create a health and safety policy can be found
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on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/risk/safety-policy-risk-assessmenttemplate.odt
Employers retain responsibility for health and safety but they can delegate tasks to
head teachers or other staff members. Considerations for content of a policy will vary
according to the size of the school and risks associated with its activities.
The local authority, as employer for community, community Special, voluntary
controlled schools, maintained nursery schools and pupil referral units may give
direction concerning the health and safety of people, including pupils, on the school’s
premises or involved in school activities off-site. Governing bodies of these schools
must comply with local authority direction under Section 29 [5] of the Education Act
2002.
The governing body is the employer for foundation, foundation special and voluntary
aided schools and the proprietor for independent schools. The academy trust is the
employer for academies and free schools.
Employees’ duties
Employees are required by law to have regard to their own health and safety and that
of others affected by their work. They must cooperate with the employer on health
and safety matters, perform their duties in accordance with training and instructions
and inform their employer of any situation in work that represents an immediate
serious danger so that appropriate action can be taken.
Teachers and other staff in schools, when in charge of pupils, have an additional,
common law duty to act as any prudent parent would.
Health and safety education for pupils
The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work and the NAPO (a trade union
for Probation and Family Court staff) consortium have devised a series of
occupational safety and health education toolkits for teachers, aimed at introducing
health and safety topics to primary school children. The toolkit which uses Animated
NAPO clips and creative activities is aimed at 7 to 9 years olds and 9 to 11 year olds.
Full instructions, suggested activities and downloadable resources are included to
give teachers support and guidance on incorporating health and safety into the
curriculum. The flexible lessons have been designed to fit alongside curriculum
subjects.
The topics include:
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Personal health and social education
Science
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Road Safety
Language learning
Arts
They are available at: Napo for Teachers — English
Training
Employers must ensure staff are given appropriate health and safety training for their
role. Not all employees have to attend a training course; provision of instruction or
information about health and safety in school may be sufficient.
Trips abroad and adventure activities
When planning trips abroad, schools need to consider their duties under health and
safety law. Further guidance can be found on the HSE website at HSE - Services Education - Frequently asked Questions
Injury or death of a staff member or pupil outside of Great Britain may be subject to
the law in the country where the injury or death happened.
If an injury to a child occurs abroad because of negligence on the part of the school
or its staff, the school could be liable under civil law.
If an activity is planned that will involve water sports, skiing, trekking, climbing or
caving, the school must, as required by the Adventure Activities Licensing
Regulations 2004, check the provider holds a licence. The current regulations apply
to adventure activities taking place in England, Scotland and Wales.
Schools are not legally required to have an Education Visits Coordinator [EVC]. The
EVC liaises with the local authority outdoor education adviser and assists colleagues
with the management of health and safety risks.
The Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel offers more specific advice and the website,
Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel - advice, support & monitoring of visits & outdoor
learning provides schools with details of local authority outdoor education advisers.
Parental Consent for off-site activities
Most off-site activities organised by a school do not require parental written consent
[the exception is children of nursery age] as they take place in school hours and are
part of the child’s normal school education. Parents should be aware however of their
child’s whereabouts all of the time and of any additional safety measures that may
need to be taken.
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Activities taking place out of school hours or those needing a higher level of risk
management are usually the only ones for which written consent is requested. A DFE
“one-off” consent form can be downloaded from Consent for school trips and other
off-site activities - Publications - GOV.UK parents can be asked to sign this when a
child enrols in the school.
The form will cover a child’s participation in activities for the whole of the time they
are at the school including adventure activities, residential visits, off-site sporting
fixtures not in the school day and all off-site activities for nursery school taking place
at any time, including school holidays or weekends.
Reporting injuries and accidents
The law requires certain work-related injuries to staff members or children to be
recorded and reported. Responsibility for this lies with the employer, but staff
members may be asked to prepare the report. Guidance on how to compile the
report can be downloaded from the NAHT website at NAHT What incidents should
be reported to the HSE? Or the HSE website at: Incident reporting in schools
(accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences): Guidance for employers
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
give details of the requirements and details of how to make a report online and can
be found on the HSE website at: How to make a RIDDOR report - RIDDOR - HSE
Key elements of a health and safety policy
The issues that a school, as an employer, may decide to include in a health and
safety policy are dependent on the size of the school and the risks associated with
the school activities. The health and safety policy template can be found on the on
the HSE website at: www.hse.gov.uk/risk/safety-policy-risk-assessment-template.odt
The following should be included in any employer’s health and safety policy:
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A general policy statement
How tasks are delegated [i.e. who is responsible for doing what]
The arrangements for the establishment, monitoring and review measures
that are necessary to meet health and safety standards satisfactorily. [see
also NAHT SM13 - Managing risk assessment
Additional things that schools may include in their health and safety policy and risk
assessment are as follows:
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Staff training in risk assessment and health and safety;
Arrangements for consulting with employees;
Safety in the workplace for teachers, other members of staff, pupils and
visitors;
Fire safety to include alarm testing and procedures for evacuation;
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Supporting medical needs and first aid;
Trips and slips;
Manual handling;
Procedures and policy for off-site trips to include school-led adventure
activities and residential visits;
The recording and reporting of accidents to staff, pupils and visitors to
include incidents reportable under the RIDDOR [Reporting of Injuries,
Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013];
Policy, procedures and contact details for dealing with health and safety
emergencies;
Occupational health services and managing work-related stress;
Security of the school site and related procedures;
Violence towards members of staff possibly cross-referenced to the school
behaviour policy;
Hazardous substance control;
Management of asbestos;
Movements of vehicles on the school site;
Working at height;
The selection and management of contractors.
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