Posted By Karen Todd Hi All, Am a bit confused about children on work experience. Found the following statement: "The Education Act 1996 (Section 560) states that the general prohibitions on the employment of children do not apply to those who are in their last two years of compulsory schooling, if that employment is arranged by the local education authority (or the governing body of a school on its behalf) in order to provide such children with work experience as part of their education. Such employment is still prohibited, however, where legislation expressly states that it applies to persons of less than, or not over, a specific age expressed as a number of years. Section 23 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 expressly prohibits a child of 16 or under from taking part in activities in which his or her life or limbs are endangered. Children may not be employed on work experience where legislation prohibits the employment of a young person". My confusion: in one bit it says that it is OK for children to do work experience except where the legislation preventing it makes reference to a certain age; but then the last sentence makes reference to "young person" rather than age. The crux of my query: Can children do work experience in a factory? Or are they still prevented from doing so by legislation such as the Factories Act 1961; Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920; or the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (and any subsequent amendments)? I'm having nightmare times with this one. Can't get hold of the original legislation in its entirity, or all the subsequent repeals, revocations & amendments to clarify. Regards, Karen

Posted By J Knight Karen, A young person is someone over school leaving age but under 18, so the section causing the confusion is saying that if 17 year olds cannot work in a given employment, then children (16 & under) may not do work experience there. As I understand it the criterion to use in judging whether a child can do work experience is risk based; where there is a significant uncontrolled risk a child canot work in the area or process concerned, even if it is necessary for their training, a young perons can only if it necessary for their training, John

Posted By J Knight Hi Karen, Just printed off HSG165 from HES Direct, and Paragraph 11 says 'Children below the MSLA must not be employed in industrial undertakings such as factories, construction sites etc except when on approved work experience schemes'. This does beg the question of what 'approved' means but otherwise answers your question. The criterion for decision is risk based, have a look at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg364.pdf for the specific risks concerned and how you should evaluate them, John

Posted By Karen Todd Thanks all. I'll go by the phrase in HSG165. Regards, Karen