The LA/school/college is required by law to carry out risk assessments. Risk Assessment is not some dark mysterious art. You are likely to be doing it every time you step into a classroom.
There are basically three types of risk assessment:

• Generic - general school policies on leader qualifications; teacher pupil ratios etc.;
• Specific - the assessment that takes place before the visit, when leaders must consider and make plans for all the ‘reasonably foreseeable’ hazards that might befall the group at each stage of the visit; and
• On-going - the continuing risk assessment as the visit progresses and circumstances change.

It is important to consider risks after obtaining:

• all the information about the environment that activities will take place in;
• the qualifications and experience of those in charge; and
• the suitability of equipment, and the age, ability, aptitude and experience of the pupils involved in the activity.

Having assessed the risks it is important to manage the identified risks in such a way as to:

• avoid them if possible; or
• do what is reasonably practicable to minimise their effect.

The legislation suggests that a school will have done what is reasonably practicable if it has considered the following aspects:

• supervision of the pupils;
• protection; and
• training.

Eight Steps
Although the HSE recommends five risk assessment steps you might find the following eight steps easier to follow:

i1. dentify possible risks;
2. consider what needs to be done to minimise the risk;
3. define necessary action to take;
4. identify who should take the action;
5. set a time frame;
6. implement;
7. monitor progress; and
8. review at the end.

The Health and Safety Executive has published helpful advice on Risk Assessment. HSE: A Guide to Risk Assessment Requirements and Five Steps to Risk Assessment (HSE) INDG/63 (rev2) revised 06/06 ISBN 9780717661893 available on the internet at www.hse.gov.uk or from HSE Books Tel: 01787 881165.
Quick Guides Risk Assessment (RAS) Section has examples of model risk assessments and processes, and two risk assessment databases, one covering internal school activities (RAS 3A) and one for off-site visits (RAS3). The Risk Assessment documents RAS2 and RAS2A contain a risk assessment template and a version of the HSE’s model risk assessment procedure modified to suit the school situation.

There is a sample risk assessment for an office on the HSE website http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/casestudies/office.htm.
There is a useful HSE leaflet “Slips and Trips Mapping Tool” at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/mappingtool.pdf?ebus-hsegen/08-may-2007&cr=7
The leaflet is aimed at safety representatives.

In 2006 the HSE published a list of principles of sensible risk management. Sensible risk management is described as being about balancing benefits and risks; reducing real risks; and enabling innovation and learning, not stifling them. It is not about scaring people by exaggerating trivial risks or generating useless paperwork mountains.

School Fined for Health and Safety Breach
A secondary school was fined £8000 for breaches to health and safety regulations in 2002, when a 12-year-old pupil was badly burned reaching over a candle during a chemistry experiment. The court held that the school had not conformed to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 2002, as it had not conducted suitable and sufficient risk assessments for dangers to pupils and staff. The Crown Court judge also took into account the fact that the school had not ensured that staff had proper health and safety training and, in particular, training in fire precautions. However, the school was acquitted of failing to assess properly the risks to the actual experiment.

There was a serious accident in an art department with Plaster of Paris in January 2007.  A girl was injured when attempting to make a cast of her hands.  She was mixing Plaster of Paris with water by hand and she was severely burned.  Plaster of Paris heats up as it hardens.  If it is used in thin layers the heat dissipates, but in bulk the temperature can reach up to 60ºC.  As a result of this accident CLEAPSS, the Schools’ Science Advisory Service, issued a guidance leaflet Using Plaster of Paris in Schools which advises how to use Plaster of Paris safely.

Implications
All areas of the school should have on file ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessments and these should be reviewed from time to time and when any incident occurs that suggests that particular risk assessments need to be revisited. The risks that have to be assessed are those hazards, which the staff consider, in the light of their professional skill and experience to be risks.

Compensation Act 2006
Risk assessments can make people hesitate to run an activity or take a trip. The Compensation Act attempts to overcome this by permitting courts to take into consideration that a worthwhile activity might be prevented from taking place if it could only have taken place with safety procedures that would have discouraged anyone from undertaking it. It also allows apologies and expressions of regret to be made without this being able to be produced as proof of guilt.
Quick Guides Management of Health and Safety Division has sections on Negligence and Risk Assessment.

Pregnancy Risk Assessment
Your school should have on file a generic risk assessment, which can be adjusted to meet the needs of particular pregnant staff, or new mothers. Research carried out by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) as part of the Pregnant and Productive initiative, has revealed that few employers are aware of this requirement. www.eoc.org.uk
Quick Guides RAS7 Risk Assessment for Pregnant Members of Staff.

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