In August 2006 the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) launched a consultation on a set of key principles about sensible risk management. Can you explain how you think they relate to the work of schools?

The principles of sensible risk management are very relevant to schools. They make clear that health and safety is about managing risk responsibly. It is not about stopping important learning activities where the risks are properly managed, nor about creating a totally risk free society. Indeed, children encountering risk sensibly managed are presented with an unrivalled learning opportunity. 
One clear message for schools from the principles is the need to avoid concentrating on trivial risks to pupils – such as playing conkers - at the expense of very real risks to the health of staff.

If a particular policy sounds ridiculous, check it out. This can be done in a number of ways. Initially, ask the person responsible to explain the reasons for their decision. This may show that health and safety was not the main driver. If the answers suggest that the decision was based on HSE guidance, then the HSE website is easy to navigate, provides answers to many questions and highlights HSE’s position on a number of issues. Guidance is also available through HSE’s infoline service (0845 345 0055)

Clear, practical policies to managing issues such as stress and back pain can help to ensure that staff are at work and performing well.

Sensible risk management is about ensuring that staff and pupils are properly protected, with the focus being on reducing real risks.  The principles are published at: hse.gov.uk/risk/principles.htm, I urge people to put them into practice.

School governors have important strategic responsibilities for Health & Safety and, under the Every Child Matters agenda, must ensure that their schools contribute to children 'staying safe'. What should governors do to ensure that their school has the balance right between reducing risk and encouraging constructive activity? Do you have some key messages and telling statistics that governing bodies could use to help them to address this issue?

Schools are generally very good at keeping children safe; thousands of activities take place every year without mishap. Exposure to well managed risks helps children learn important life skills, including how to manage risks for themselves.

Governors have a monitoring role, ensuring that a sensible approach to risk management has been taken and that identified control measures have been acted upon.

Good guidance and examples of good practice within the education sector provide schools with a sound basis on which to make decisions and ensure that worthwhile activities continue for the benefit of the children. Governors should be aware of this guidance and monitor that their school is taking account of it.

A study carried out in 2,500 schools in summer 2005 found that over twenty per cent of primary schools and nearly 70 per cent of secondary schools undertake field trips beyond what is required by the curriculum. A recent survey of 900 school respondents found that most schools offer more ambitious residential opportunities (99 per cent of secondary schools and 86 per cent of primary schools).

Many of the stories about risks in education are based on myth, and my view is that we shouldn’t be fooled by myths. If something sounds ridiculous – check it out.

Many staff are discouraged from offering the benefits of off-site learning by rare but high profile disasters and what they often see as bureaucratic risk assessments. Can you suggest ways that governing bodies can restore confidence in these valuable activities?

The vast majority of education activities are carried out safely and responsibly, by teachers who take the time to plan the activities and ensure that things are done right. Thousands of school trips take place every year without any incident, and pupils benefit from taking risks in a managed way, helping with their learning, social skills and understanding of risk. But you are quite right, we need to provide support and reassurance to teachers and help them to concentrate on practical actions, not bureaucracy. Governors have a key role to play.

I would suggest that governors do three things to address concerns. 

• Firstly, dispel some of the myths. Remind teachers how many trips go ahead safely each year and that the legal duty is to manage risk responsibly, not eliminate it altogether. Correct any ideas that teachers will automatically be sued or prosecuted in the unlikely event of something going wrong. We cannot find a single example of a teacher being sued over an accident in the last five years!  Prosecutions of teachers are extraordinarily rare, and only occur where a teacher has flagrantly ignored direct instructions and departed from all semblance of common sense.
• Secondly, look for advice and model risk assessments produced by local authorities (LAs) and other authorities.  Many LAs already have some good model assessments and we want to encourage this further. Model assessments can often be extremely useful in helping to produce a risk assessment that concentrates on practical steps to managing the real risks and is fit for purpose.  Why reinvent the wheel?
• Thirdly, visit HSE’s school trips web site; it includes a lot of helpful information, as well as ten vital questions (hse.gov.uk/schooltrips/tenquestions.htm). Use the questions as a brief to satisfy yourself – and reassure teachers – that the important issues are being covered. 

HSE has straightforward guidance for people involved in organising trips – following this guidance will provide teachers with the confidence to deal with the real risks and so safeguard the children.

Governing bodies need to be assured that risk assessments are being carried out. Do you have any advice for governors about how they can avoid turning this into a bureaucratic exercise for school staff?

Risk assessment should really be about good planning and then putting the plan into practice; It should not be about bureaucratic back-covering. Once again, I’d say: find out whether there is guidance or a model risk assessment that you can check, adapt and apply.

With any risk assessment, focusing on practical steps for managing the real risks is the key. Remember that the assessment is a means to an end, not an end in itself, so keep the paperwork short and to the point.

HSE has revised its guidance Five Steps to Risk assessment. The revision makes the guidance easier to follow and places more emphasis on putting the findings into practice.

If children learnt to carry out their own risk assessments on school activities, would it contribute to risk education?

It is important that children are made ‘risk aware’ by involving them in practical decision making in a challenging environment. This allows them to develop the attitudes and attributes that enable them to function in a risky and uncertain world.

Giving children the opportunity to be involved in the risk assessment process, as part of their learning, is invaluable. Risk-aware pupils are safer pupils, and we should bear in mind that today’s schoolchildren are tomorrow’s workforce. But I would suggest picking a few particular events or risks, not trying to involve children with every aspect of risk assessment.

As street have become increasingly unsafe playgrounds for children, school grounds may by, for many children, the closest open space to their home, but may not be accessible except for ‘official business’. The move to develop extended services in and around the school means that many schools will provide childcare from 8am to 6pm, which should certainly be safe, but may leave children feeling ‘over-supervised’. Do you have any thoughts about how school grounds might be made accessible to children outside supervised clubs…without creating undue risk?

Each school will need to think creatively about the options, and how this could be made to work, taking into account the views of their insurers. Get in touch with them and open a dialogue. Schools are being encouraged to consider how they respond to the extended schools agenda. Sensible risk management is not about stopping recreational and learning activities where the risks are properly controlled, it is about focusing on real risks, and on properly protecting workers and the public while enabling innovation to take place.

If you were to summarise your message to school governors in a few lines, what would you say?

Sensible risk management is about practical steps to managing real risks, not bureaucratic back covering. Address the real risks, not only to pupils, but also to the health and well-being of your staff. And remember, risk assessment is just good planning – keep it fit for purpose and act on it.