Safety on your course

Health and Safety

You have a responsibility for ensuring your own health and safety, as well as the health and safety of your learners and others who may be affected by your actions.  You should provide evidence that you have considered health and safety in your teaching/learning environment. 

You must cover emergency procedures in the first session.  Depending on the subject taught, you may also need to plan and deliver subject specific health and safety information at appropriate points in the course.

Incidents and accidents

Reporting Accidents

Report any accidents or near miss accidents sustained, using the Accident Report Form available from your Centre or Team Manager.  Some accidents should, by law, be reported to the Health and Safety Executive.  The Accident Report Form provides guidance on this.  Always use the official report form, and ensure that this is passed on promptly to the Centre or Team Manager.

 Report any hazards or risks and take immediate action where practicable to prevent further risks.

First Aid

You should know and inform your learners of the location of the nearest first aid box, and where a first-aider can be found if one is based on site. 

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessments

 All tutors should carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment at the start of each class.  Where there is a significant hazard, tutors are responsible for ensuring that specific risk and COSHH assessments are completed.  Check with your Centre or Team Manager if in doubt.

There is a Hampshire Achieves classroom risk assessment form that should be filled in under Quality Documentation on the VLE (QD2)

Safe Working Practices

• Ensure that you are up to date with health and safety arrangements relevant to your role and subject, communicating sound health and safety practice to learners at all times.  Examples of arrangements include the use of personal protective equipment, and food hygiene in cookery courses.
• Electrical equipment – visually check the safety of equipment, including the condition of plugs and cables, operation of switches etc. before plugging in.
• Ensure that all portable equipment has been tested for electrical safety and avoid tripping hazards from trailing flexes.
• Check that the teaching environment is free from hazardous obstructions, including bags and other items.
• Check that learners using PCs/laptops adopt the correct posture and provide opportunity for adequate breaks from the screen and workstation.  This should be covered at the first course meeting. 
• Inform your Centre or Team Manager of any health and safety risks that you identify in your teaching, your room or subject, so that corrective action may be taken. 
• Ensure that no one operates a machine or carries out any task for which they have not been adequately trained and certified for use.
• Avoid lifting or carrying heavy items.  If this is not reasonably practicable, ensure that a risk assessment for the task is carried out, other systems of working considered, or appropriate training provided. 
• You and your learners should be suitably dressed for the course, e.g. use aprons in cookery courses, and suitable footwear for sports and fitness courses.
  

Examples of hazards

IT courses:

Craft course:

• cutting tools in use
• sharp objects
• trip hazard from waste material

Cooking course:

• allergies from food
• food poisoning - poor food hygiene
• burns from cooking/heating food

Physical activity course:

• Slips and trips from inappropriate footwear
• Soft tissue injury – over exertion
• Asthma attacks
• Cardiac event

Emotional well-being course:

• Emotional distress from topic
• Physical harm due to distress