Doncaster Council

Risk Assessments

A health and safety priority for Doncaster schools (as elsewhere) is the provision of risk assessment in schemes of work and lesson plans. 

Essential points to note are:

• Risk assessments are best recorded in lesson plans and schemes of work.
  
• Many departments use lesson plans on pre-printed, boxed templates showing the lesson structure content and other information. Risk assessments can be presented in an appropriately labelled box to guide those teaching the lesson.
  
• Schemes of work vary in detail but the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) model can be taken as a starting point for the presentation of a scheme of work. Risk assessment information can be included in a form found in the QCA documentation.
  
• Departmental risk assessments may point to appropriate material in the science texts used or teacher guidance publications. Annotation of text material may suffice. 
  
• Whatever the form of presentation it should be such that there is certainty that staff teaching the topic in question will have sight of the risk assessment provided in written form.
  
• Although individual teachers will contribute to risk assessments the provision within a department is a whole-department, management responsibility.
  
• Appropriate risk assessments should be available for all tasks carried out by technicians which could be reasonably judged to require such an assessment.

Science - Health & Safety

The local Authority subscribes to CLEAPSS, a supportive organisation that provides health and safety advice to local authorities and schools. Regular advice sheets and newsletters are provided to schools.  They can be contacted on www.cleapss.org.uk and their email address is science@cleapss.org.uk

CLEAPSS also have a range of inexpensive publications for sale.