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Institution of Occupational Safety and Health explains how teachers can learn to stop worrying and start to love risk assessment
 Teachers have a rocky relationship with risk assessment, at least according to news reports of banned playground games, science experiments and school trips. But it’s time to take back control of the risk assessment, and make it work for you.
The basics
Risk assessment is a positive and proactive tool. It helps you identify what can go wrong and then plan appropriately to prevent it. The key word here is appropriately – we’re not talking about banning activities without sufficient reason.
The best approach to risk assessment is a simple one, one that isn’t overcomplicated by trivial risks but concentrates on the ones that can cause real harm and suffering. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is there anything in the activity that could cause harm?
- Who could be harmed and how?
- How bad would the harm be?
- How likely is this to happen?
- What do I need to do to prevent it happening?
These basic steps remain the same for every type of activity, from keeping your classroom safe to planning an educational visit. The number of real risks and control measures you can put in place will vary according to what kind of activity you’re planning, and the only time you’ll ever need to put a stop to something is when there is a serious and unmanageable risk of harm.
Risk assessment is supposed to be a tool to help you make things happen safely, but it’s often used incorrectly and over-cautiously to stop anything and everything from taking place. In the education sector, and especially where young children are involved, it’s easy to get caught up in what could go wrong and forget about the likelihood that it will. For instance, we all know that, in theory, an aeroplane passing over a school could crash, but the chances of this actually happening are very remote and it’s not something that’s usually considered when planning school activities.
Plan B
You also need to think about alternatives if something happens to prevent your original plan from going ahead. When you identify what could go wrong as part of your risk assessment, you should make plans for what you can achieve instead. Lack of foresight can lead to tragedy, as in the case of the school trip to Glenridding Beck in 2002 which led to the death of a 10 year old pupil. The HSE report into the tragedy highlights a number of issues that contributed to the death of the schoolboy, including a lack of preparation and insufficient risk assessment by the trip leader.
“At his trial, the leader said in mitigation that it had never occurred to him that anything could go wrong. These very chilling words are often heard following serious accidents. They explain much about the underlying causes of this tragedy...there was no structured alternative programme for the Glenridding visit. An important part of planning is therefore to identify reasonable alternative activities (“Plan B”) and to be equipped to carry them out if need be.”
There’s only so much planning you can do – once a lesson or activity starts, the situation can change rapidly. The time you put into your risk assessment can help you adapt to changes in your situation, and continue the lesson/activity without putting yourself and your students at serious risk. This is what dynamic risk assessment is all about, and you probably do it already.
Keeping kids under wraps
Risk assessment shouldn’t be used to exaggerate or publicise trivial risks, or to try and create a totally risk free society. Though records are important, there’s no need to increase your carbon footprint with mountains of pointless paperwork. We all need to remember to keep risk in perspective, which is often difficult in any situation involving young people and children who we want to protect.
Dragons’ Den judge Simon Woodroffe is the latest business leader to get involved in the ‘cotton wool kids’ debate: “We need to expose ourselves to danger to build the muscles of self-protection. If you don't learn to protect yourself when you are young, you may end up in even more danger later on.” (Times, July 10 2008)
Keeping children and young people away from any kind of risk won’t help them learn the skills they need to develop, both personally and professionally. How safe will they be when they leave school and suddenly have to manage hazards they were protected from? Even everyday actions like crossing the road, catching a bus or using a computer could expose them to significant risks if they have no experience of managing the hazards associated with them.
What the papers say
The public face of risk assessment is dominated by headlines blaming ‘health and safety killjoys’ for banning ballgames and science experiments. HSE recently published research following up some media reports that highlighted health and safety having a negative impact on learning or the learning environment. These included mountaineering, ballgames in a school playground, science experiments, and work experience.
Their research looks at the truth behind the headlines, often revealing a different or more complicated tale than reported in the media. One example is a story in a national newspaper reporting that a secondary school had banned ball games after a risk assessment by the council. The researchers found conflicting accounts of what the council health and safety team advised the school to do, and additional factors including pressure from parents, fear of litigation and insurance cover for the school. The media report failed to mention that the ban only covered ball games with full-sized balls in unsupervised situations.
Make it happen
Risk assessment will help you get things done – inside and outside the classroom. If you can’t find a way to do something safely, get advice from a health and safety professional through your Local Authority, or via the IOSH website forums and Education group.
About IOSH
IOSH is Europe’s leading body for health and safety professionals. We have 33,000 members worldwide, including more than 13,000 Chartered Safety and Health Practitioners. The Institution was founded in 1945 and is an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that sets professional standards, supports and develops members and provides authoritative advice and guidance. IOSH also has an Education Group which offers support to members and non-members of IOSH.
For more information
Health and Safety Executive
www.hse.gov.uk
IOSH
www.iosh.co.uk |
