Health and Safety Law and

Responsibilities
AUGUST 2008
ISSUE 02
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The purpose of this document is to attempt to clarify the health and safety
law which applies within Education. This document has been produced for
information purposes only and does not require any action by
headteachers or other managers.
2.0 HEALTH A! SA"ET# LEGISLATI$
2.1 Health and safety responsibilities and duties placed upon teachers and
others in schools, colleges and other education establishments are
derived from the Health and Safety at or!, etc "ct 1#$% &HS"' and
the (anagement of Health and Safety at wor! regulations 1###.
2.2 )upils and visitors are also protected by the duties imposed by such
legislation as they are affected by an employer*s underta!ing or and + or
are using school premises.
2., There are a number of other pieces of delegated legislation which e-ist
and require an assessment of ris!, adequate maintenance, provision of
information, instruction and training etc. i.e. ./SHH, 0SE, manual
handling etc. The Education Health and Safety manual provides advice
and guidance in the interpretation of such legislation and outlines best
practice.
2.% 1esponsibility for health and safety lies with everyone & 2", 3overning
body, head teacher and employees' , either as the employer of school
staff or because they e-ercise control over the school premises &or both'.
2.4 The Health and Safety E-ecutive &HSE' is responsible for enforcing health
and safety legislation in respect of schools.
2.5 (ost of the duties placed upon employers and others are qualified by the
phrase 6so far as is reasonably practicable6. This is essentially a balance
between the costs & in terms of money, time, trouble etc. ' against the
degree of ris! to people involved.
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2.$ here the ris! is great, even e-pensive measures to prevent the ris!
could be considered necessary. Each case must be ta!en on its own
merits.
%.0 THE HEALTH A! SA"ET# AT &$R' A(T
,.1 The Health and Safety at or! etc. "ct 1#$% &HS"' is the primary piece
of health and safety legislation in the ;<.The full te-t of the "ct can be
downloaded free of charge from the HSE*s website.
http=++www.hse.gov.u!+legislation+hswa.pdf
,.2 The general ob>ectives of the HS" are that employers should secure the
health, safety and welfare of all persons at wor! and protect others from
the ris!s arising from wor!place activities.
This includes providing=?
" safe wor!ing environment with welfare facilities.
" safe place of wor! with safe access and egress.
The necessary training, information, instruction and supervision.
Safe plant and systems of wor!.
Safe handling, storage and maintenance of articles and substances.
,., Employees also have duties to ta!e reasonable care of themselves and
others and to co?operate with the employer in complying with their
statutory duties.
4.0 MANGEMENT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK REGULATIONS 1999
%.1 These regulations require employers to have systems in place for the
management of health and safety and the assessment of ris! and to=?
"ppoint competent persons.
Establish procedures for serious and imminent danger.
)rovide information to employees.
.o?operate and coordinate with other employers.
)rovide training.
)rovide health surveillance &where required'.
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).0 $THER RELE*AT GUI!A(E
4.1 HSE guidance notes and "pproved codes of )ractice
hilst non compliance with these does not constitute a breach of law, the
fact that these were not followed could be accepted as evidence of a
failure to do all that was reasonably practicable.
4.2 @ritish Standards
These have no legal status but can be interpreted by the courts as
being authoritative guidance on a particular matter. /nce
again in the event of an accident + incident the fact that these
were not followed could be accepted as evidence of a failure
to do all that was reasonably practicable.

+.0 OCCUPIERS LIABILITY ACT
5.1 ;nder this act, the occupier of any premises has a duty to ensure that
there are no Aunreasonable* ris!s to visitors and others who may be
invited onto those premises. The duty even e-tends to include unlawful
visitors such as trespassers.
5.2 here children are involved, it is clearly recognised that a greater degree
of care is required, since the immaturity of children means that they
cannot always be held responsible for their own actions, nor could they
be e-pected to understand the degree of ris! involved in any haBardous
situation.
5., hat this really means is that the ris!s from any specific haBards on site ?
e.g. fragile roofs, outdoor swimming pools etc should be adequately
controlled. Thus the use of some specific signage for e-ample warning
signage for fragile roofs, preventing access to low roof areas by use of
anti?climb paint or other security measures would therefore be deemed
reasonable.
,.0 &H$ IS THE E-.L$#ER I S(H$$LS /
$.1 The 0.S7 document Health and Safety= 1esponsibilities and )owers
sets out who the employer is in the different types of schools. "lthough
"cademy schools came into being after this document was produced the
principles will also apply for "cademy schools
$.2 :n community, special C. schools, maintained nursery schools and pupil
referral units the employer is H...
$., The governing body+trustees are the employer in "cademy , 7oundation
and C" schools.
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$.% H.. has no responsibilities for, and no power to intervene in, pupil health
and safety in schools where the governing body is the employer, e-cept
where safety is threatened by, for e-ample, a brea!down in discipline.
8.0 E-.L$#ER !UTIES
9.1 The employer &be that the 2" or governing body' retains the primary
responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of its employees.
9.2 <ey duties=
Have a health and Safety policy D schools are required to have local
arrangements to carry this out. <ey elements of a policy are provided in
the .S7 model policy for schools.
)rovide health and safety guidance.
)rovide health and safety training.
Ensure staff are competent to carry out tas!s delegated to them.
(onitor compliance with the policy.
9., The 1ole of the 2" as the employer=
The 2" holds an element of responsibility for the health and safety of all
other persons, including pupils who are affected by school activities
although this is also a 3overnor responsibility as they are in control of
premises. The "uthority has set out a statement of its Health and Safety
)olicy and will continue to provide detailed advice and guidance to
schools on safe wor!ing practices and procedures.
The 2" is responsible for monitoring health and safety standards in
schools and also provides an advisory role.
The Health E Safety Service fulfils the role of competent person to
Headteachers and 3overnors on their statutory responsibilities.
0.0 T HE ROLE OF GOVERNING BODIES AND HEADTEACHERS
#.1 "s the management body the governors &and headteacher' of
community, C., special and maintained nursery schools should ensure
that the school complies with 2" health and safety policy and practices.
#.2 )ersons who have control of premises used as a wor!place &i.e.
3overnors' have the duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,
that those premises and any plant or substances used therein are safe
and without ris! to the health of anyone using them.
#., ithin 7oundation and Coluntary?"ided Schools it is the 3overning @ody
and not the 2" who is the employer and therefore hold legal responsibility
for health and safety matters.
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#.% 3overnors and Headteachers will need to supplement the "uthority6s
statement of health and safety policy with their own local statements of
organisation and arrangements for health and safety, detailing local
responsibilities for safety matters within each establishment.
#.4 The Headteacher holds the responsibility for health and safety on a day?
to?day basis, and has control over all activities on the site. :n larger
establishments, Heads may designate a senior member of staff to have
particular responsibility for co?ordinating safety chec!lists, for !eeping up?
to?date advice from the 2" and other sources, and for actioning reports of
faults and other matters requiring attention.
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