Posted By sharna pane
hi,
i work in a special school as a ta, i am also a manual handling trainer. i help to do risk assessments on transfers that are carried out in school. we have a physiotherapy dept on site, physio staff paid by nhs. school support staff carry out transfers that have been delegated by physio dept eg pupils into standing frames. I believe the physio dept should risk assess these moves, as they are therapeutic but they say no. They dont seem very keen to be seen giving any advice verbal or written.
can any1 shed any light as to wether as part of their job they should be carrying out paper risk assessments for therapeutic moves carried out by school support staff?

Posted By Kieran J Duignan
Sharna

Regrettably, your story illustrates vividly the kind of bureaucratic mess that results in avoidable injuries followed by hundreds of hours of committee-time writing of hands, and precious little else.

Whether or not the physios are functionally responsible, your account suggests they may not feel capable of the risk assessments. What Frank calls a 'thorough' RA, I would call an 'ergonomic' risk assessment, that takes into account not only the physical setting and physiology of the pupils, but also all social and cognitive factors relevant to injury prevention and containment.

If the physios continue to shrug off their responsibility, write a clear request, in the professional style you have used on this website, to the headteacher.

As a former governor of a special school, as well as an RSP and registered ergonomist, I applaud your care and encourage you not to allow matters to drift.

Posted By sharna pane
hi
thanks for your responses. Just to clarify. I am manual handling trainer for my lea based in a special school. i work as a ta and part time M.H.trainer. Part of my duties is to carry out risk assessments in my school and to advise/assist ta's in other schools with their man han plans for individual pupils and their risk assessments. I have found that advice is often being sought in mainstream schools with help on putting pupils in standing frames and other transfers that are related to physio therapy treatments being carried out. The school support staff having being given no guidance or advice on what to do. Have been able to help by demonstrating something as basic as the fact that wheelchair footplates can be removed. I felt it was wrong that they were expected to carry out procedures having no real guidance as soon as they were being asked to do these moves. I did a search on net for manual handling for pysiotherapists and got a 50 page publication on legal and professional duties, a section on duty of care talks about delegation of therapy to school support workers and states that pupil and worker should be assessed and paper assesssment made. i cant access a physiotherapy forum, have tried. Want to make sure i'm right before i question their stance. its a bit tricky! ive been ta in special for 17 years but have no nusing or ot qualifications. just 17 years of experience, the first 10-14 learning on the job and figuring out as we went along. had 5 days of excellent man han training with centaur, course totally dedicated to special needs pupils. They do believe that they can not advise us as it is not their place to so i need to be sure of my facts before i speak up as i dont want to cause friction between the departments. if anyone is or knows a physio therapist , i would appreciate further input.
thanks
:)