Welcome to the EIS FIFE Local Association
Risk Assessment and Management of Pupil Behaviour
Contents
3. What is risk assessment and management?
4. What are the criteria for initiating a risk assessment?
5. When should a risk assessment and management procedure be carried out?
6. Who should be involved in conducting a risk assessment?
7. How to carry out a risk assessment
8. School senior management responsibilities
Appendices
1. Council policies and relevant legislation
Risk Assessment and Management of Pupil Behaviour
1.1 This policy should be read in the context of the range of policies developed by Fife Council relating to health and safety, violent incidents, pupil exclusion, discipline and individual planning and of current Health and Safety legislation (see Appendix 1).
1.2 The Education Service already has in place a number of health and safety procedures detailed in Standard Circulars which deal with risk management eg Excursions; Violence at Work; Exclusions; Administration of Medication etc. This risk assessment policy relates to the management of pupils likely to pose risk to pupils or staff in schools.
1.3 A key to successful use of this risk assessment and management procedure is that there should be a range of school systems already in place to address issues including behaviour and discipline, positive behaviour management, parent and pupil participation, record keeping and planning systems for additional support needs. The risk assessment and management procedure is a means of formalising good practice which should already be ongoing in schools.
1.4 The procedure outlined in this document should be used in rare circumstances where it is identified that a risk assessment and management approach would be helpful to support school staff manage exceptional situations through detailed assessment, planning and intervention. The purpose of risk management is to minimise and, where possible, prevent risk. The use of risk assessment does not replace the application of the normal disciplinary procedures in school.
2.1 This policy provides:
· criteria to outline when risk management is appropriate and/or essential
· information describing the use of risk assessment and management tools
· a generic framework which outlines preventive and problem-solving risk management
· procedures for staff and service users alike
3.0 What is risk assessment and management?
3.1 What is Risk Assessment?
A risk assessment is a careful examination of what, in the work situation, could cause harm to staff or pupils so that an assessment can be made about whether all appropriate interventions and precautions have been put in place.
3.2 What is Risk Management?
Risk management refers to the interventions and controls put in place following identification of hazards as a result of the risk assessment conducted.
3.3 What are the aims of risk assessment and management?
- to aid anticipation and identification of likely triggers of problematic incidents
- to prevent or minimise the recurrence of problematic incidents
- to identify positive solutions
- to plan and intervene in the best interests of pupils and staff
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to use school-based record keeping systems to inform the risk assessment and management process
3.4 What are the expected outcomes of risk assessment and management?
- to minimise future risks to pupils and staff
- to identify a plan of appropriate support for the pupil
- to provide a plan of appropriate support to staff
- to provide a coordinated. multi agency response to the needs and risks identified
- to consult fully with parents, pupils and relevant professionals
- to ensure the best interests of individuals concerned
- to set a date for review within a timescale of 4 - 6 weeks
4.0 What are the criteria for initiating a risk assessment?
4.1 School senior management should be aware of any situation which may suggest that risk assessment and management will be helpful. In assessing this situation, school management will consult with any staff who have brought a request for risk assessment as well as the parents, educational psychologist and any other relevant advisers. It is not the intention of this document to identify an exhaustive list of examples. Where incidents in school relate to the profile below and in other situations as deemed appropriate, careful consideration should be given to initiating a risk assessment and management procedure.
4.2 A risk assessment procedure should be initiated when there is evidence of one or more of the following:
- it is likely that a pupil’s future behaviour may endanger his/her or other’s safety (including a pupil due to return from exclusion)
- there is a perceived risk that a pupil may make a future malicious allegation against a member of staff
- there is a risk of staff or pupils being subjected to sexually offensive/offending behaviour
5.0 When should a risk assessment and management procedure be carried out?
5.2 Particular attention should be paid to situations where, as a result of change, upset or general vulnerability, pupils are sensitive to potential triggers which may place them, other pupils and staff at risk eg transitions, family bereavement, major care issues, identified additional support for learning needs.
6.0 Who should be involved in conducting a risk assessment?
6.1 The school’s senior management team is responsible for ensuring that the risk assessment and management procedure is carried out effectively. The procedure may be delegated to appropriate school staff who are best placed to coordinate it. When a school management team are considering the use of a risk assessment and management procedure, school management should seek advice from their link educational psychologist.
7.1 Where it is agreed that it would be helpful and appropriate to initiate the procedure, consultation should be sought from all of those involved to enable the completion of the Risk Assessment Form (see Appendix 2). The principle of least intrusive intervention will apply and, in some cases, the procedure will be completed with the involvement of only a few staff. In other cases, and for pupils who have additional support needs, a multi-agency meeting will be required.
7.2 The risk assessment will only be useful if it identifies the strategies for the purposes of risk management that will be put in place to minimise the likelihood of identified hazards recurring.
7.3 Health and Safety Services should not be contacted routinely regarding the detail or completion of an individual risk assessment and management procedure. Headteachers should contact the Health and Safety Service only for advice regarding the general process of risk assessment and management and general health and safety queries.
7.4 Copies of the risk assessment form, multi-agency meeting minutes and any other relevant documentation should be sent for information to the parents and the Education Officer.
7.5 Where a pupil has identified additional support needs, the starting point will be a process of individual planning and record-keeping including multi-agency planning.
- identify activities or environments associated with risk
- establish the likelihood of adverse outcomes for individual pupils
- estimate the consequences if such outcomes were to occur
- take steps to avoid unreasonable risk
- consult with their link educational psychologist regarding the risk assessment and management procedure
And within a reasonable timescale:
- establish that a series of incidents has occurred and that a risk assessment and management procedure should be implemented
- ensure that the risk assessment and management procedures is completed in partnership with all relevant agencies, parents/carers and the pupil
- complete the risk assessment form which may be made available to relevant parties at a review meeting
9.1 Record keeping will support the aims to minimise risk and seek effective strategies and solutions. Meetings should be minuted and review dates set.
9.2 Risk assessment forms and related documentation should be retained and kept as part of the school’s record keeping system for pupils.
EDUCATION SERVICE
Fife Council Education Service Policy
Violence at Work Policy
APG1 Exclusions procedure
Dealing with Challenging Behaviour, A Procedural Policy for Schools (currently in draft)
NSG1 Guidance for Individual Pupil Planning and Record Keeping in Fife Schools
LEGISLATION
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (amended 1999)
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
To be completed as part of the multi-agency planning process for the child or young person.
Person/s Affected
Hazard Severity (low, medium or high)
Likelihood (low, medium or high)
Risk Rating (low, medium or high)
Controls/Interventions
DEFINITIONS
HAZARD: a situation which can endanger the safety of others
SEVERITY: estimated likely impact on persons affected
LIKELIHOOD: the estimated chance of the safety of others being endangered
RISK: overall assessment, based on severity and likelihood
CONTROL: an intervention to minimise the risk
RISK ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
Background
1.1 The AGM in June 2006 passed the following motion:
“That this AGM instruct Council to provide written guidance on risk assessments”
1.2 Information on the legal requirements for risk assessment and advice on the risk assessment process is provided in the EIS Health and Safety Handbook which is issued to all EIS Safety Representatives.
What is Risk Assessment?
2.1 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) define risk assessment:
“A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm.”
HSE Guidance: ‘Five steps to risk assessment’: www.hse.gov.uk/risk/fivesteps.htm
2.2 Within schools and colleges there is a wide range of hazards (ie anything that may cause harm) which must be properly controlled to prevent accidents, injuries and ill health. Risk assessment can look at an area and identify all the hazards, eg technical workroom, or can look at a specific hazard throughout an establishment, eg stress or violence, or can be used in response to a particular incident or accident to ensure that steps are taken to prevent recurrence.
2.3 The risk is assessed by consideration of the likelihood that the potential harm will occur and the severity of the possible consequences. The success of a risk assessment is judged on whether or not the risks, following assessment and implementation of measures of prevention, are adequately controlled.
Legal Requirements
3.1 It is a legal requirement since 1993 for employers to undertake risk assessments. The current requirements for risk assessment are under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This duty is in addition to the duties on an employer under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. An employer has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his/her employees.
3.2 Where an employer has 5 or more employees the risk assessment must be recorded.
3.3 Where an employee’s circumstances change the employer should reconsider the risk assessment, in particular where an employee becomes pregnant, develops a disability or returns to work from major surgery. Once an employer has been informed by the employee that she is pregnant a specific risk assessment must be carried out.
3.4 The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 require employers to consult with trade union safety representatives on matters concerning the health or safety of their members. This requirement includes consultation on the risk assessment process and the outcomes of risk assessment. Safety representatives are entitled to access to risk assessment documents.
3.5 The responsibilities for health and safety, including risk assessment, should be set out in the Health and Safety Policy.
3.6 The legal responsibility for ensuring that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has been carried out always remains with the employer.
3.7 In schools headteachers are required to manage the health and safety of all within school premises.
3.8 Employees also have duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act and under the Management Regulations and are required to look after their own health and safety and that of others and to co-operate with the employer to assist the employer in meeting health and safety requirements.
The Risk Assessment Process
4.1 There are 5 Steps to risk assessment as outlined in the HSE guidance (2.1 above).
4.2 Step 1 is to identify the hazards. This step should include careful consideration of the tasks and working environment. Some hazards, such as noise, asbestos, chemicals, manual handling, ionising radiation, are potentially so dangerous that they are covered by their own regulations and require detailed risk assessment and specified control measures. Such hazards and risk assessments do not need to be repeated in a general risk assessment but they should be reviewed and a general risk assessment should make reference to other assessments and documentation. Hazards can also be identified by reviewing accident/incident reports and occupational ill health records.
4.3 Step 2 is to decide who might be harmed and how this may happen. In schools and colleges the employer must consider employees, pupils/students, contractors and employees of other employers (for example, catering staff not directly employed) and visitors.
4.4 Step 3 is to evaluate the risks and to decide on the precautions required. This is about looking at what is already in place and attempting to reduce risks to an acceptable level. What is required to be done may be prescribed in regulations, set out in an Approved Code of Practice or provided in HSE Guidance. Where detailed advice is not available the employer must ensure that he/she has done all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to reduce the risks. The term ‘reasonably practicable’ is used frequently in health and safety legislation and means that there must be an evaluation of the level of risk and the resources required to take additional measures to reduce the risk further. It does not mean that an employer can make a decision not to take additional precautions or preventative steps based only on a wish not to spend any more money.
4.5 Step 4 requires the findings to be recorded (for employers with 5 or more employees) and, most importantly, implemented. Good practice is for implementation to be allocated to individuals/departments and realistic time scales set. Such timescales will be dependent on the level or risk, particularly if the risk is still high.
4.6 Step 5 is the review of the risk assessment. This will be necessitated by changes, eg to the working environment, in circumstances of employees (see 3.3 above), in equipment or in the tasks being carried out. It is also good practice to have a system of annual review of risk assessments.
4.7 Risk assessments should be carried out by a ‘competent person’, such a person should have been trained in the risk assessment process and have sufficient training and experience of the work and knowledge of health and safety requirements. Where training is required the employer must provide this and it should be conducted in work time.
Principles of Risk Assessment
5.1 It is HSE’s view that the risk assessment process should be underpinned by its ‘Principles of sensible risk management (www.hse.gov.uk/risk/principles.htm)
which includes the message to employers that HSE is committed to:
“Ensuring that those who create risks manage them responsibly and understand that failure to manage real risks responsibly is likely to lead to robust action.”
5.2 Another of the principles sets out that risk management is not about:
“Stopping important recreational and learning activities for individuals where the risks are managed.”
The management of risks for educational visits and excursions is a priority area for HSE and it is important that teachers and lecturers are aware of the additional risks that such activities present and the actions they should take to protect pupils/students, colleagues and themselves. The EIS guidance which deals with this issue is provided at Appendix 1.
5.3 Assessment of risk is not a science and although risk rating systems (which allocate values to levels of likelihood and consequence and multiply these factors to result in a numerical score) may be used, the results are still a subjective evaluation. However, risk assessment must be undertaken with adherence to legal requirements, compliance with good practice and a systematic application of common sense.
Examples of Risk Assessments
6.1 There is no set format for risk assessment documentation. Councils, colleges and universities should have a system for risk assessment in place and this will generally use standardised documentation. Examples of general risk assessments are included in HSE’s Guidance ‘Five steps to risk assessment’ (see 2.1 above).
6.2 An example of a risk assessment in a school setting can be found in HSE’s guidance ‘Health and safety matter for special educational needs: Legal issues including risk assessment’. HSE makes clear that the risk assessment examples are indicative only.
6.3 An example of a specific risk assessment relating to manual handing with special education is found in HSE’s guidance ‘Health and safety matters for special educational needs: Moving and handling’.
6.4 The examples of risk assessments in 6.2 and 6.3 above are available at:
www.hse.gov.uk/services/education/information.htm#special
Advice to Members
7.1 If you are concerned that the risks in your establishment are not being properly controlled you should raise this with your line manager/headteacher and/or seek advice from the EIS Safety Representative.
7.2 The EIS Safety Representative is entitled to ask for access to all risk assessments and this can be useful if there is doubt over the precautions that have been put in place.
7.3 Where there is a concern that risks are not being properly managed, eg in the case of a pupil/student with a history of violent behaviour or where there are high levels of stress, the employee/EIS Safety Representative should request that a risk assessment is carried out. Although most risk assessments look at work places or activities other work place hazards, such as the potential for violent incidents and stress, should also be assessed.
7.4 If an EIS Safety Representative/member believes that the risk assessment is not suitable or sufficient, due to the risks remaining high or there being other measures which could be taken to reduce risks to an acceptable level, this should be reported to the employer, via line management/headteacher. If there is not a satisfactory outcome further advice should be sought from the EIS Local Association or Branch.
Action
8.1 Paragraphs 2.1 to 7.4 (inclusive) should be issued as advice to members in the Bulletin and posted on the EIS website.
8.2 If a Local Association Secretary/Branch Secretary requires advice on risk assessment, or any health and safety issue, she/he should contact the National Officer (Employment, Health and Safety).
Appendix 1
HEALTH AND SAFETY: ADVICE ON EXCURSIONS AND VISITS
Teachers and lecturers are not contractually required to organise or participate in excursions or visits outwith school/college premises. However, many teachers/lecturers willingly undertake such activities when there is educational value in doing so.
The requirements under health and safety law (the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (as amended) and all other relevant statutory provisions) apply wherever and whenever a teacher/lecturer is at work. Councils/colleges are required to ensure the health and safety of their employees and pupils/students and teachers/lecturers are required to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and the health and safety of their pupils/students.
Teachers/lecturers who take on responsibility for supervising or organising visits should ensure that they:
(1) Comply with the council/college procedures and policies; such policies should include rules for levels of supervision and risk assessments.
(2) If in doubt seek advice from head teacher/line manager/employer’s advisers.
(3) Raise any health and safety concern prior to the visit taking place.
It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that suitable and sufficient risk assessments have been carried out by competent person(s) for all work activities including visits or excursions. In December 2004 the Scottish Executive published detailed and comprehensive guidance: ‘Health and Safety of Educational Excursions: A Good Practice Guide’ which is available at www.scotland.gov.uk. This guidance provides standards for Local Authorities, Adventure Activities and a Handbook for Group Leaders. The Health and Safety Executive’s website is also a useful source for advice and information; www.hse.gov.uk/services/education.
If an EIS member has concerns about a health and safety issue related to a visit he/she should try to resolve this with his/her head teacher/line manager. If the concerns are not addressed he/she should cease to volunteer for the trip or activity. In such circumstances it is recommended that advice and support is sought from the Local Association Secretary/Branch Secretary.