Overview
In this blog series, we’ll dive into the critical aspects of school health and safety management, providing insights and best practices. From asbestos management to emergency lighting maintenance, we’ll explore how schools and colleges can create safe and healthy environments for students, staff, and visitors.
School Health and Safety Management
All schools must ensure they comply with health and safety regulations. This can be achieved by ensuring health and safety is managed and allocating adequate resources towards this. Protecting school occupants from accidents, injuries and ill-health is an essential part of any school leader‘s responsibility and an indispensable part of the teaching and learning process.
A robust health and safety policy is important to ensure a safe and conducive learning environment in schools.
Ultimate responsibility for the health and safety policy in schools falls to the local authority, the governing body of the school, or the academy trust. In daily school life, the headteacher is the person who will manage the health and safety policy. They may, however, involve other senior faculty members in administering the health and safety policy, such as the business manager and premises staff.
Aside from the health and safety policy, school health and safety management is made up of planned preventative maintenance, risk assessment and staff training.
Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM)
PPM is a key part of school health and safety management. In the context of school health and safety management, PPM involves regular inspections, repairs, cleaning, and replacement of school facilities and equipment to minimise the risk of accidents and hazards. Unlike reactive maintenance, which involves addressing a problem only when a fault arises, PPM is proactive, identifying and addressing potential problems before they escalate and disrupt school operations. Some tasks will need to take place monthly, some annually and others every few years. We will go through this in each individual blog. It is important to maintain accurate records of all PPM activities and test results.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is a key part of school health and safety management. Put simply, a risk assessment is finding out what could cause harm to people and deciding if you have done enough or need to do more to protect them.
Risk assessment helps schools identify potential hazards that could pose a threat to the safety of students, staff, and visitors. This includes everything from physical hazards like slips and falls to more serious risks like fires, natural disasters, and chemical spills. We will go through this in each individual blog.
By regularly reviewing and updating their risk assessments, schools can ensure that they are always prepared to address emerging safety challenges and to allocate resources appropriately. Check out our risk assessment software https://iprotectu.com/risk-assessment-software/
Health and Safety Training
Staff training is a key part of school health and safety management. Well-trained staff are better equipped to identify and respond to potential hazards, implement safety procedures, and provide first aid in emergencies. Training programmes should cover a wide range of topics, including emergency response, fire safety, hazard identification, and prevention strategies. Additionally, staff should receive training on specific safety protocols and procedures relevant to their roles and responsibilities. An example of this is premises staff training. We will go through this in each individual blog. Refresher training helps to reinforce safety knowledge. Check out our Learning and Development software https://iprotectu.com/learning-and-development-software/
Join us as we delve into topics related to school safety, offering a comprehensive and informative resource regarding PPM, risk assessment and staff training. The first topic will be Water Safety Management. Keep your eyes peeled!
