Health and Safety 3.1- 3.4

930 Words4 Pages
The health and safety of staff, pupils and visitors while on school premises or involved in school-organised activities has to be protected as far as is reasonably possible. Risk assessments are undertaken for all activities and measures are put in place to minimise or control risks. If a school fails to develop and implement the necessary health and safety policies it may have serious consequences. The past case of an 11 year old pupil who died from an asthma attack after being left in a school corridor by a teacher is a tragic example of this. The inquest found the child’s death an incident of natural causes, contributed to significantly by neglect’. The hearing brought forward a lack of policy and training at the school on the nature of asthma, and what school staff are required to do to protect pupils in their care. It is greatly important that schools employ appropriate health and safety policies which clearly state the schools duties and responsibilities and monitor and ensure that staff adhere to these polices, staff need to receive relevant training and development in order to act out their responsibilities effectively. Removing all risks from a child’s environment may risk crippling and restricting their learning and development however there are always going to be risks that quite obviously need to be avoided in order not to be deemed incompetent in our role by failing to protect from obvious dangers, however situations like using equipment in the park, going up and down stairs using a hammer are activities which may enhance the child’s learning and understanding of managing in the world they live in, it is equally as important to give a child the opportunity to experience a certain level of risk to improve their own competence, confidence and independence in making their own decisions in risk taking. Children are not always aware of health and safety
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