Creating a Culture of H&S in Your School EdExec Live – 21 June 2018

Contents Structure of a H&S Management System Health & Safety Responsibilities Getting The Balance Right Our Typical Findings Common Health & Safety Myths

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System As with any type of management system there are a number of items to think about prior to establishing, documenting and implementing a Health & Safety Management system

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System The Structure of a H&S Management System really comes down to the following 4 items:

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System PLAN

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System DO

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System CHECK

Structure of a Health & Safety Management System ACT

Health & Safety Responsibilities

Health & Safety Responsibilities Who is the responsible person at the school and is Health & Safety a single person’s duty?

Health & Safety Responsibilities The responsible person has a number of specific legal duties to carry out in fulfilling this responsibility:

Health & Safety Responsibilities Step 1 Assess working practices

Health & Safety Responsibilities Step 2 Set a policy and communicate

Health & Safety Responsibilities Step 3 Monitor and review the situation

Getting The Balance Right

Getting The Balance Right Are you striking the right balance with your Health and Safety arrangements – in other words are you: Getting it just right? Striking a sensible balance Doing too much? Going beyond sensible management Doing too little? Failing to reach a sensible balance

Getting The Balance Right Sensible Health and Safety Management: The school leadership team understand the safety policy and apply it practically to the real risks in the school School leaders consult with staff looking for practical solutions to health and safety issues Learning is enabled by making proportionate decisions

Getting The Balance Right Failing to reach a Sensible balance: No one leads or takes responsibility for health and safety There is a lack of understanding about risks, priorities and risk management Precautions for higher risk activities, e.g. off-site or work at height, have not been identified Important documents and records are not kept up to date

Getting The Balance Right Failing to reach a Sensible balance: Senior managers are unaware of staff concerns and there is no engagement with staff on risk management Members of staff are left to deal with difficult decisions without the necessary skills, experience and training Key information is not passed to contractors working on site

Our Typical Findings in Schools

Our Typical Findings in Schools Whilst delivering our External Competent Person service areas of concern that we typically find in schools are: Risk Assessments – Not School Specific Lone Working COSHH External Play Areas – specific Risk Assessments and Policies Caretaking/Cleaning activities

Common Health & Safety Myths

Common Health & Safety Myths Health and Safety is often used as an excuse to stop activities or disguise unpopular decisions: Stopping Classroom Experiments Banning Snowballs Wrapping Children in cotton wool

Q&A