Hi all. My wife has offered to help the local schools pta group put a risk assement together for a disco held at the school.

She has contacted the school for help regarding things like accident book, current sign in procedures and the like with very little help or even understanding of why she wanted them and what they actually are.  When asked about any issues with allergies she was told they couldnt disclose any information as this would be a data protection issue.

She was then told to carryout a generic risk assesment or use ones that group had carried ut before, which she really isnt happy with.

Anybody got any ideas how we can tackle these issues or even specific risks we should be looking at?

Thanks 

Simon 

I'm on parent council (PC) at my son's school and we have taken membership with SPTC which gives us public liability insurance (as well as other insurance cover) as well as access to a range of safety related resources,  information and advice.  This is specifically for Scottish based schools but PTA UK offer a similar service throughout the UK.

Our PC previously run events without insurance cover mistakenly under the presumption that we were covered by the local authority's insurances but when I went on board and specifically asked the question we discovered that we weren't covered at all so I would get your wife to check what insurance cover they have either specifically as a parent council or via the local authority.  Will also need to check that the DJ has adequate insurance or if they will be covered by the PTA insurance.

If I was running this event I would want a parent/guardian to complete a form containing several pieces of information if the school were unable/unwilling to share the information; I would want to know emergency contact details for the child, essential medical information (e.g. allergies, asthma, diabetes etc), and to inform you if the children is permitted to leave the event without an accompanying adult.

Other thoughts on things they need to think about the following:

1.  Fire - the school will have a fire risk assessment which they should ask to see and they will need to consider appointment of people into roles that school staff would normally undertake (Person in Charge, Who will contact emergency servics, Fire Wardens to assist the children in evacuating and checking toilets) etc.  Consider if any equipment that they will be bringing in as part of their event changes anything within the fire risk assessment.

2.  First Aid - Will they have access to school first aid facilities/equipment or will they need to supply their own?  Is there a trained first aider available?  Ensuring protection of both adults and children (i.e two adults present when first aid treatment is required). 

3.  Electrical Safety - The DJ will be bringing electrical equipment into the premises.  In our local authority we would be responsible for any damage that said equipment may cause to the school so I would be looking to see what measure the DJ has for ensuring his equipment is electrically safe.

4.  Spills & Slips - I'll anticipate that the PTA will be selling juice during the event so personnel need to be appointed as responsible for clearing up any spillages quickly to prevent any slips/falls which could result in injury.

5.  Sale of Snacks - Think of children who may have allergies (e.g. nuts, dairy products etc) or other medical conditions (e.g. diabetes).  Personally I wouldn't sell anything with nuts at a school event just in case.  It is surprising the things that have dairy in them that you just wouldn't think of so try to find some snacks that people with common allergies or other medical conditions can have.  Fruit could be an option (if its a themed disco fruit can be made into an abundance of treats).

If I think of anything else I come back

I would suggest this would trigger a review of the fire risk assessment as this type of extra curricular activity poses significant additional risks than business as ususal.

My kids School had discos in a first floor hall. The School blocked corridors (with furniture and a piano) to stop kids wandering off and although volunteer parents were recruited, there was no briefing or plan of what to do in an emergency. Frankly it was a bit of a dog's dinner but 1,000,000 safer than their fireworks display

The Governors were not interested in my offer of assistance, but did introduce a rather poor volunteer briefing session and a one-way system at parents pick up time sometimes after I wrote to them with my suggestions