Health and Safety Management in Educational Institutions A workshop organised by BN Training. Venue: Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos Date: MAY 13, 2010

Health, Safety and Welfare in Schools. Health, Safety and Welfare in schools is an area that has been largely ignored, and yet statistics would reveal that there are more accidents recorded in schools by students, teachers, employees and visitors than in other workplaces and factories in the State.

ROLE OF THE SCHOOL A school should have a policy that its operations be managed to protect the health safety and welfare of its staff, students and visitors. Sound operating practices are followed to foster a safe environment. Accident prevention should be given the same management attention and control as given to other aspects of the school.

WHO IS WATCHING? If nobody is watching, we are sure that the victim is watching. Yes the person who suffers the accident e.g. the child who falls in the playground and breaks a limb the child who falls into the soakaway pit at the back of the school building,the child who gets bathed and burnt with acid in the Chemistry lab, the student and home economics teacher who are seriously injured in a gas explosion in the HE Lab, the physics teacher who is electrocuted in the physics lab through loose wires in the electric sockets, the ceiling fan that falls on the head of a student that causes him more than a severe headache, the school bus packed full of students that falls into a ditch during school excursion/field trip.

WHO IS TO BLAME, WHOSE LIABILITY? In order to have a good understanding of whose liability it is, we must first know the laws that surround Health and Safety management in Nigeria. They include: – Workmen's Compensation Act – Factories Act – Insurance Act – Law of tort (Occupiers Liability) – National Policy on Education – Court cases on personal injury – Workers safety and health Law (Under debate with Senate)

NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION ACT Nowhere in this policy do we have any reference made to a health and safety policy in the education sector in Nigeria. The Federal government does not see it as an integral part of the education policy in Nigeria.

LAW OF TORT The Law of Torts in Nigeria puts the blame on the occupier of the premises. The owner of the business…..THE SCHOOL. As the school owner it is your duty to ensure that you put in place a premises that is free of dangerous materials, or situations that would cause harm to your students, staff, or visitors. This is OCCUPIERS’ LIABILITY

FACTORIES ACT CAP 126 LFN Source document for HSW in Nigeria. Not specific to the education sector states that it is to provide for the registration of factories and factory workers and other professionals exposed to occupational hazards, but for whom no adequate provisions have been formerly made; to make adequate provisions regarding the safety of workers to which the Act applies and to impose penalties for any breach of its provisions. QUESTION: Do educational institutions fall into this Act? ANSWER: Yes! S 87(3) defines a factory to include ‘any workplace in which, with the permission of or under agreement with the owner, ten or more persons carry on work which would constitute the workplace a factory if the persons therein were in the employment of the owner occupier, shall be deemed to be a factory for the purposes of this Act, and in the case of any such workplace, the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the owner or occupier of the workplace were the occupier of the factory and the persons working therein were persons employed in the factory. The Act makes provisions for health issues in the workplace ss7-13, safety; ss14-39, welfare; ss40-49 QUESTION; Are there any specific regulations made for the education sector? ANWER:NO!!. It is our considered opinion that regulations must be made for our sector as it is too important to be ignored, more with its peculiarities and importance to the future of the Nation, such peculiarities which include but not limited to Boarding Houses and students and staff going on field trips and excursions.These must be adequately taken care of by the law. S49 gives the Minister extensive powers to make regulations for the health safety and welfare as appear to him to be reasonably practicable and to meet the necessity of the case.

COURT CASES ON PERSONAL INJURY Two cases can be mentioned, namely; Ediagbonya v Dumez(Nig) Ltd Ogu v Ihejiroka These cases state the law on personal injuries sustained by workers of an organisation in the course of employment.

WHAT IS THE DUTY IMPOSED ON THE SCHOOL OWNERS(SCOWNS) Scowns have a general duty to ensure as far as practicable the health, safety and welfare of all the students, staff and visitors to the school Scowns should set up a system of regulations that will protect the health and safety of everyone who has reason to come into contact with the school.

WHAT AREAS SHOULD THE REGULATIONS COVER? Scowns should at all time pay particular attention to the following areas; 1. Health 2. Safety 3. Welfare

Executive Summary What is Risk Assessment- What is crisis Leadership/Management? What is HSW, and what are the standards set in Nigeria. cf standards in UK and USA How does HSW work? Establish the procedures of HSW Insurance of schools

What is Risk Assessment A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Students workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures. Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and affect your business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or you have to go to court. You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace so that you put in place a plan to control the risks.

How to assess the risks in your workplace Step 1 Identify the hazards Step 2 Decide who might be harmed and how Step 3 Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions Step 4 Record your findings and implement them Step 5 Review your assessment and update if necessary

What is crises Leadership/Management Crises leadership simply means that we have identified all the risks that may come up and we have taken steps to mitigate them before, during and after they have happened e.g. the 5 steps we earlier stated We are not fighting fires, we are preventing fires and if they come we are combat ready. Crises management suggests that we are running around to contain the crises that have happened.

What is HSW and what are the standards in Nigeria. Compare UK and USA. HSW simply refers to the health safety and welfare procedures and standards adopted in schools in the country. The NPE does not make provisions for this. It is up to every school to fashion out its own standards. In the UK and USA the ISO 9001, and OSHA regulations are used to set their HSW standards. The UK and USA standards can be adopted with modifications for our use here.

HOW DOES HSW WORK? Procedures for implementation. HSW works in 4 main components 1. Management Leadership 2. Workplace Analysis 3. Hazard Control and Precautions 4. Training

MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP Management Sets up the safety and health management systems (SHMS) Gives 100% commitment to the SHMS Owns the SHMS Involves its workers and students in the adoption of the SHMS Takes responsibility for all events happening

WORKPLACE ANALYSIS Management must have an eagle’s eye view of all areas of the workplace and identify all the possible and probable cause of accidents and incidents that need to be controlled by the SHMS

HAZARD CONTROL AND PRECAUTIONS Management having identified all the hazards must set in place a control mechanism that would take charge of all activities in the quest to mitigate all accidents and incidents

Training All school owners must establish a proper training procedure for all staff and students who must be conversant with the high standards of HSW in the school. No expense should be spared to give adequate training especially in areas of first aid and fire fighting.

INSURANCE OF SCHOOLS Insurance is a device for spreading risk, and risks are classified in many ways. By law, schools must have certain types of insurance. The risks that are likely to affect schools are: Property risks, e.g. loss or damage to buildings, contents or other school property. Financial risks, e.g. the extra cost of running a school following a fire, or unexpected legal expenses Liability risks, e.g. the legal obligation to compensate a pupil, teacher or member of the public who is injured as a result of negligence on the part of someone representing the school Personal injury risks, e.g. accidental bodily injury to pupils or staff, or assault upon them Miscellaneous risks, e.g. a variety of types of insurance, such as motor, school journey or travel insurance.

BENEFITS OF HSW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Enhanced student and staff morale in the school Confidence of the owner of a well established school setting standards Confidence of parents and public about the standards of the school Pacesetter in the education business

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