Experts from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) will unveil a new safety assessment programme for schools to visitors at the Education Show next month.
RoSPA will be exhibiting in Hall 3, Stand A72, at the NEC in Birmingham, during the three days of the Education Show, which runs from Thursday, March 20 to Saturday, March 22.
Members of the safety charity's education team will be on hand to give tailored advice on training, audits and consultancy and will also demonstrate how RoSPA's unique SchoolSafe programme benefits schools and colleges across the country. The scheme checks and validates a school's performance in areas that are critical to successful and proportionate health and safety risk management including:
- what are the requirements for health and safety management?
- helping students learn about risk
- children having experiences out of the classroom, such as adventurous activities
- physical safety issues, including asbestos, transport and play equipment
- practical management, such as fire and emergency systems.
An overall GCSE style rating of A*, A, B or C grade is then calculated.
David Rushton, head of education and leisure at RoSPA, said: "Helping schools and colleges to "˜teach safely' as well as "˜teach safety' is essential if we are to equip the citizens of tomorrow with the skills and knowledge to recognise and manage risks in a positive way. It is this approach which fits in line with RoSPA's guiding principle that life should be "˜as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible'.
"As a charity with a history stretching back almost 100 years, we have the knowledge and expertise to assist schools, colleges and academies with their health and safety management procedures. This is why the SchoolSafe programme really does help to deliver results - it builds on existing health and safety development plans and tracks performance improvements. Each review results in a report and action plan, which can be easily understood by teachers, governors, trustees, parents and others."
