Posted By John Johnston
Hey,

I have been trying to find work now for some time without any luck and now I'm at a stage where I need to keep my health and safety knowledge in check. I have decided to offer my services to my local primary school on a voluntary basis. This will be a positive thing for all concerned - the children will be safer, teachers made aware of overlooked dangers, good experience for myself. I just want to make a difference.

Anyway, my point is this.........

I am very new to health and safety (NEBOSH certificate only), where do I start?

I am trying to develop a plan of how I would like to achieve my goals for this task which will include: accident statistics, risk assessment reviews, main areas of risk such as fire safety, first aid & appointed persons, kitchen H & S to name but a few.

Is there any tips or advice that can be offered from any of you who have had similar experience, or any general advice on how to go about doing a fine job in this area.

Your thoughts will be very helpful and much appreciated.

John

Posted By Peter Lee
John, firstly let me say I admire your drive and enthusiasm, you are certainly not alone in trying to gain necessary experience.

However you will probably find that your Local Authority has a dedicated Health and Safety unit that deals with Health and Safety for schools, it would be advisable to contact them.

Posted By Chris Abbott
John - you have my sincere admiration!

Chris

Posted By Anthony Slinger
Take a look at the Ofsted inspection hand books. I will get the ISBN numbers for you. They give you an idea of what an Inspector looks for. Safety & health have their own sections respectivly.

Posted By Ken Taylor
In addition to the HSE publications, you will need HSC publications from the Education Service Advisory Committee and relevant publications from the DfES and former DfEE - including their Schools Building and Design Unit (catalogue available). With regard to Primary Science and Design Technology, if the Education Authority or school subscribe to the CLEAPSS School Science Service, there is a range of publications from them to which it would also be worth having access. 'Croner's' also have a loose-leaf publication 'School Health and Safety Management' that would be worth looking at. As an earlier response has intimated, you should find out what the existing policy, system, guidance, support, etc are and seek to work in support of these. It can be surprising just how wide a range of activities is carried out by schools - necessitating a health and safety input far greater than some single industry needs.
With best wishes.