Health & Safety on School Premises

Health & Safety in relation to school premises covers a vast range of activities and involves an extensive amount of legislation, regulations and approved codes of practise.  For further information please refer to the Health and Safety Manual for Schools or seek guidance from the Health and Safety team on: 01803 207170.

Arrangements relating to Building Projects

All building projects, no matter how small, contain some element of risk. The risk can be to the contractor, the occupiers, third parties, or the building itself.  Do not rely on or assume that a contractor / workman is competent to do the task. Ask them for a method statement on how they propose to complete the works before starting work or with their tender.

As a property manager it is essential that you carry out a risk assessment when seeking to place an order for works. Risk Assessment guidance can be found in Section 2 of the Health and Safety Manual.

Certain types of works due to their hazardous nature are subject to building regulations.  These regulations are mandatory and the responsibility for compliance rests with the client and not the contractor.

Works which arise frequently and can be particularly hazardous include:

• Asbestos
• Demolitions
• Use of Scaffolding
• Gas
• Electricity
• Glazing
• Excavations
• Use of Heavy Vehicles
• Roofing
• Material Storage

Never underestimate the potential for people to cause or be involved in an accident that you are responsible for.

Arrangements Relating to Premises

Health and Safety at Work Regulations outline the need for employers to manage health and safety by ensuring that the arrangements they have in place are planned, organised, monitored and reviewed appropriately.  The Health and Safety Manual provides guidance on implementing Safety Management Systems which will ensure that these duties are met.  The system also outlines who has responsibility for undertaking key health and safety tasks such as risk assessments.  For more information on Safety Management Systems please contact the Heath and Safety Team.

Risk Assessments

Any work related activity that places any one person at risk of injury or ill health, should be assessed. The risk assessment should identify the likelihood that harm will occur and the most likely severity of that harm. Measures to reduce the risk can then be identified and put in place. Once suitable means for reducing risk have been identified those measures need to be implemented. Assessments should be reviewed on a regular basis and at least once a year or whenever there is a significant change to the activity or people likely to be affected by it.

A risk assessment does not necessarily require a lot of technical knowledge about systems and processes. It does require a realistic and reasonable view to be taken about what harm may be caused and the likelihood that this will happen again.

Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM)

These regulations were introduced to tackle the high level of accidents that occur on construction sites. They affect only certain types of work but they are mandatory, enforceable by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and non-compliance is a criminal offence.

The activities covered by these regulations are wide ranging and include:

• All demolition and design work – irrespective of duration or number of persons on site.
• All work where there are five or more people on site at any one time.
• All work that extends to 30 days or requires over 500 person days

The client’s key tasks under CDM are:

• Appoint a Planning Supervisor to co-ordinate and manage health and safety during the design and early stages of preparation.
• Determine if the project actually falls within the scope of CDM.
• Be reasonably satisfied that the Planning Supervisor and designer(s) are competent and have adequate arrangements for Health and Safety.
• Appoint a client agent if required.
• Provide the Planning Supervisor and designer(s) with information relevant to the Health and Safety of the project.
• Where an agent is appointed inform the HSE in writing.
• Ensure construction work does not begin until the Principal Contractor has prepared a suitable Health and Safety plan.
• Ensure compliance with Health and Safety legislation where work activities or undertakings may be affected by construction work.
• Be reasonably satisfied that any contractors appointed are competent and have made adequate provision for Health and Safety.

If you require any information on this subject please contact the Policy & Planning Team.