Work experience organisers

Organisers include schools, colleges or those arranging placements for them, for example Education Business Partners (EBPs) or third-party independent organisations/businesses.

If you are advised that a particular placement is not possible due to health and safety, the person giving you that advice may well be wrong – there are very few work activities a student cannot do due to health and safety law. You can question their assertions by contacting HSE’s Myth Buster Challenge Panel

How to keep a sense of proportion

Do:

• remember that the placement provider (employer) has primary responsibility for the health and safety of the student and should be managing any significant risks
• take reasonable steps to satisfy yourself that they are doing this. For employers who are new to taking students on work experience, talk through what the student will do and any relevant precautions. It might be helpful to make a note of your conversation
• rely on past experience, or pooled experience, for example within the local authority area. You do not need to do it all again for a new student where an employer is known to you and has a good track record, and the student’s needs are no different to those on past placements
• work with parents to ensure employers know in advance about students who might be at greater risk, for example due to health conditions or learning difficulties, so they can take these properly into account
• keep checks in proportion to the environment:
  • for a low-risk environment, such as an office or shop, with everyday risks that will mostly be familiar to the student, simply speaking with any new employer to confirm this should be enough. This can be part of the wider conversation on placement arrangements
  • for environments with less familiar risks (eg in light assembly or packing facilities), talk to the employer to find out what the student will be doing and confirm the employer has arrangements for managing risks. This will need to include induction, training, supervision, site familiarisation, and any protective equipment that might be needed
  • for a placement in a higher-risk environment such as construction, agriculture and manufacturing:
    • discuss with the employer what work the student will be doing or observing, the risks involved and how these are managed. Remember that although the placement might be in a higher-risk environment, the work the student is doing and the surroundings they are working in may not be, for example it could be in a separate office area
    • satisfy yourself that the instruction, training and supervisory arrangements have been properly thought through
• check that the employer understands about the specific factors relevant to employing young people
• check that students know how to raise any health and safety concerns

Don't

• repeat the process for a new student, or visit unnecessarily, where an employer is known to you and has a good track record, and the student’s needs are no different to those on past placements
• seek additional paperwork for assurance purposes, or seek to second-guess the employer’s risk assessment or their risk control measures:
  • you are unlikely to have the knowledge to evaluate the assessment
  • this could give the false impression that you have ‘approved’ it
  • employers with fewer than five employees are not required to have a written assessment
• duplicate checks on employers. Schools and colleges using a third party to arrange placements should work with them to make sure employers are not requested to do things twice

Find out more about work experience responsibilities.

Find out more about the specific factors for young people.