Health and Safety Legislation places duties on employers for the health and safety of their employees and anyone else that may be on the premises. In schools this includes responsibilities for the head teacher, teachers, non-teaching staff, pupils and visitors (including contractors). Who the employer is depends on the type of school, for example:
- The LEA is the employer in county, controlled and special agreements schools and in pupil referral units;
- The governing body is the employer in city technology colleges, voluntary-aided, non maintained special, grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools;
- The owner or the trustees are the employers in some independent schools.
So what are the responsibilities? The employer is responsible, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, for making sure that a school has a health and safety policy. This policy should include arrangements for first aid, based on a risk assessment of the school and should cover:
- Number of first aiders/appointed persons;
- Numbers and locations of first aid containers;
- Arrangement for off site activities/trips;
- Out of school hours arrangements eg lettings, parents evenings etc.
It is also the responsibility of the employer to make sure that their insurance arrangements provide full cover for claims arising from actions of staff acting within the scope of their employment. It is also the responsibility of the employer to make sure that the statutory requirements for the provision of first aiders are met and that the appropriate training is provided and that correct procedures are followed.
We mentioned earlier in this section on who is responsible that there were a number of different organisations/people depending on the type of school and we will endeavour to expand on these different groups below.
The Local Education Authority (LEA)
In county, controlled and special agreement schools the LEA, as the employer, is primarily responsible for the health and safety matters, with managers and staff also having responsibilities.
To comply with their health and safety obligations the LEA should provide a policy statement and guidance on good practice to help count and controlled schools draw up their own health and safety arrangements, including first aid. County and controlled schools should have regard to the LEA’s policy and guidance.
The Governing Body
Where the governing body is the employer it has responsibility for health and safety matters within the school, with managers and staff also having responsibilities.
The governing body are required to develop policies to cover their own school and this should be based on a suitable and sufficient risk assessment that has been carried out by a competent person.
The governing body also has general responsibility for all the school’s policies even when it is not the employer. In county and controlled schools the governing body should follow the health and safety policies and procedures produced by the LEA as the employer. In practice, most of the day to day functions of managing health and safety are delegated to the head teacher.
The Head Teacher
The head teacher is responsible for putting the governing body’s policy into practice and for developing detailed procedures. The head teacher should also make sure that parents are aware of the school’s health and safety policy, including arrangements for first aid.
Teachers and Other School Staff
Teacher’s conditions of employment do not include giving first aid, although any member of staff may volunteer to undertake these tasks. Teachers and other staff in charge of pupils are expected to use their best endeavours at all times, particularly in emergencies, to secure the welfare of the pupils at the school in the same way that parents might be expected to act towards their children.
In general the consequences of taking no action are likely to be more serious than those trying to assist in an emergency.
It is also the responsibility of the employer to arrange adequate and appropriate training and guidance for staff that volunteer to be first aiders/appointed persons. The employer must ensure that there is enough trained staff to meet the statutory requirements and assessed needs, allowing for staff on annual leave, sick leave or being off-site.
