Health & Safety Policy

We recognise our responsibilities for the Health and Safety policy and will take all reasonably practicable steps to provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions (on the school premises and during school-sponsored activities), equipment and systems of work for all our pupils, school personnel and visitors to the school.

We believe we can help prevent accidents and provide a safe and healthy working and learning environment only if everyone works together to adopt and use safe systems of work and identified good practices of health and safety. Everyone has a duty to take care of their own safety and that of others while on the school premises or during school-sponsored activities.
We believe the maintenance of a healthy and safe school is the shared responsibility of everyone in the school community.
We all have a responsibility to ensure equality permeates in to all aspects of school life and that everyone is treated equally irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. We want everyone connected with this school to feel safe, secure, valued and of equal worth.
We believe it is essential that this policy clearly identifies and outlines the roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the procedures and arrangements that is connected with this policy.

Aims

To establish a safe and healthy working and learning environment for all pupils, school personnel and visitors.

1

To encourage everyone to take responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others.

2

To provide and maintain equipment.

3

To establish safe operating systems within the school.

4

To provide training and up dated information.

5

To ensure compliance with all relevant legislation connected to this policy.

6

To work with other schools and the local authority to share good practice in order to improve this policy.

7

Role of the H&S Committee:

work in conjunction with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure all school personnel, pupils and parents are aware of and comply with this policy.

Be responsible for the implementation of the school safety policy and to develop a culture of safety throughout the school
Be trained in and will keep up to date with all health and safety legislation.
Periodically report to the Premises, Health, Safety and Security Sub-committee.
Ensure that all school personnel fulfil their duties to co-operate with the policy.
Provide leadership and vision in respect of equality.

Ensure risk assessments:

Are undertaken by members of the senior management team and other competent members of the school personnel.
Are in place and cover all the main aspects of the school
Are accurate and suitable.
Are easily available for all school personnel.
Ensure a thorough risk assessment is undertaken and all school personnel are notified once a new hazard has been identified.
Ensure advice is sought from appropriate outside agencies in order to complete certain risk assessments.
Provide training for the appropriate school personnel so that they are aware of the process of completing a risk assessment.
Ensure that all stakeholders are aware of all risk assessments and safe systems of work.

Be vigilant and aware of possible risks by undertaking regular health and safety inspections of:

The general condition of the school building(s).
The general condition of the school grounds.
All entrances, exits and finger guard protection.
Fire safety precautions.
Electrical equipment and electrical power points.
Heating, lighting and ventilation.
All glazed areas.
Floor surfaces.
Toilets and showers;
Storage of equipment;
Storage of hazardous substances;
PE equipment and other specialist equipment;
Standards of cleaning.
Ensure all inspections are recorded and reported to the Premises, Health, Safety and Security Sub-committee
Report any accidents or dangerous occurrences;
Investigate the causes of any accident, dangerous occurrence or near miss;
Put into place a safe system to prevent any accident, dangerous occurrence or near miss happening again;
Have in place an emergency plan to cover any major incident;

Have in place:

Fire precautions and an emergency evacuation plan in the event of fire.
Procedures for first aid provision
Procedures for the control of substances hazardous to health.
An electrical maintenance plan

Role of School Personnel

School personnel will:

carry out their duties in accordance with the Safety Policy.
take reasonable care of themselves and others whilst at work.
co-operate with the Principal and Heads of School and others in school to comply with legislation.
attend appropriate training.
implement the school’s equalities policy and schemes.

report accidents, incidents, defects, damage to equipment and safety hazards to the Health and Safety Representative.
report and deal with all incidents of discrimination.
attend appropriate training sessions on equality.
report any concerns they have on any aspect of the school community.

Pupils

Pupils are expected to:

follow the safety rules of the school and in particular the instructions of teaching staff given in an emergency.
use and not willfully misuse, neglect or interfere with things provided for their safety.
exercise personal responsibility for the safety of themselves and others.
observe standards of dress consistent with safety and or / or hygiene.

treat others, their work and equipment with respect.
support the school Code of Conduct and guidance necessary to ensure the smooth running of the school.
liaise with the school council.
take part in questionnaires and surveys.

Parents

Parents are expected to:

support the school in any health and safety matters reported to them on newsletters.
be aware of and comply with this policy.

be asked to take part periodic surveys conducted by the school.
support the school Code of Conduct and guidance necessary to ensure smooth running of the school

Visitors and People Working on Site

Visitors are expected to:

take reasonable care of themselves and others while on the school premises.
co-operate with the safety rules and procedures of the school.
report defects or damage to equipment.

ensure compliance with risk management when working on the premises.
report all accidents and incidents.

Risk Assessments / Safe Operating Systems

We believe that Risk Assessment applies to everyone and is the key factor in relation to Health and Safety.
Risk Assessment is something we all do every day and most activities have some form of risk attached to them.
The object is to assess the level of risk, determine whether it is acceptable and introduce measures to minimise or eliminate the risk by:

Preparing and implementing safe working practices.
Monitoring, inspecting and reporting regularly.
Identifying potential hazards and knowing what to do to minimise risk and respond if something goes wrong.

Inspections

Weekly checks are undertaken by the relevant personnel.
The Local Authority and Safety section undertakes an annual inspection.
Annual inspection by the Governor with responsibility for Health and Safety.

Reporting

The principal receives a weekly report from the H&S committee.
The Head of Facilities provides a monthly report to the board of directors.