Secondary schools are being targeted to ensure they discharge a proper duty of care in relation to the health & safety of students on work placements.
A campaign is being launched that involves targeting all 7,500 secondary schools and local education authorities across the UK with an information pack on the issue.
The Education (Work Experience) Act 1996 requires that every student undertake at least one week of curriculum-based workplace activity before leaving school.
In doing so, each secondary school working with year-10 and year-11 students have a legal ‘duty of care’ for their welfare when seconded to a work placement.
Already, most schools will be requesting to see the health & safety documentation of an organisation before allowing their student to begin a work experience placement there.
Schools often believe that a talk in assembly on health & safety is due diligence when it comes to preparing their students. It’s not, and in the event of an accident the liability lies with the senior members of staff at the school, not the student.
Schools are required to have in place legally enforceable control measures to ensure that all students have sufficient health & safety awareness prior to entering the workplace.
Examples of areas of health & safety awareness would include fire safety, manual handling and workstation setup and posture.
