Estate Health and Safety Responsibilities Policy

1. Scope and application

This policy applies to [school name], subject to its status as a maintained or academy school and to the identity of its employer or responsible body. The allocation of operational roles must reflect the school's arrangements as a [school type] school.

This policy covers estate-related health and safety, statutory compliance, delegated estate functions, competent-person arrangements, escalation and monitoring.

2. Employer or responsible body

The employer or responsible body for the school is [employer or responsible body]. For community and voluntary-controlled maintained schools, the local authority is generally the employer. For academies, the academy trust is the employer. Governing bodies are employers for foundation and voluntary-aided schools.

The employer remains legally responsible for its health and safety duties. Management of specific functions may be delegated, but delegation does not release the employer from that legal duty.

3. Employer responsibilities

The employer must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees and conduct the undertaking in a way that does not expose non-employees to risks to their health.

Estate arrangements must support the safe provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work associated with them, the provision of information, instruction, training and supervision needed for health and safety at work, and the maintenance of a safe place of work, including access and a safe working environment.

4. Allocation of responsibilities

The employer or responsible body retains overall responsibility for estate health and safety and statutory compliance. At school level, the person with overall responsibility is [senior responsible person].

The school's delegated estate health and safety functions are allocated as follows: [delegated estate functions and role holders]. Each delegation must identify the function, the person or organisation managing it, the limits of the delegation and the route for reporting concerns.

Delegated arrangements must not be treated as a transfer of the employer's legal health and safety duties. The employer or responsible body remains accountable for ensuring that the arrangements are suitable and that delegated functions are monitored.

5. Statutory compliance

The employer or responsible body must designate responsibility for estate-related health and safety, including responsibility for statutory compliance and the engagement of competent persons.

Responsibility for statutory compliance is assigned to [statutory compliance lead]. Matters requiring competent assistance must be referred to [competent person arrangement].

Where an external organisation or other person manages a specific function, the school must retain a clear record of the function, the delegated responsibility and the person accountable for oversight.

6. Competent persons

The school must identify and engage competent persons where competent assistance is needed for estate-related health and safety or statutory compliance. The responsible arrangement is [competent person arrangement].

The competent-person arrangement must be communicated to the relevant school leaders and those managing delegated estate functions. Any issue that cannot be resolved within the delegated arrangement must be escalated to [escalation role or body].

7. Escalation

A concern about estate health and safety, statutory compliance, the suitability of a delegated function or the availability of competent assistance must be reported to [initial escalation contact].

Where the concern is not resolved, or where it exceeds the delegated authority, it must be escalated through [escalation route] to the employer or responsible body.

The employer or responsible body must remain informed of matters requiring its decision or action, including matters arising from delegated estate functions.

8. Monitoring delegated functions

Where management functions are delegated, the employer or responsible body must monitor the delegated arrangements. Monitoring responsibility is assigned to [delegated function monitor] and is carried out through [monitoring arrangement].

Monitoring must consider whether delegated functions remain appropriately allocated, whether statutory compliance responsibilities are assigned, whether competent assistance is available and whether concerns are escalated to the employer or responsible body when necessary.

9. Communication

Relevant employees and other persons managing or working within the school's estate arrangements must be informed of the responsibilities, delegated functions, competent-person arrangements and escalation routes that apply to their work.

10. Policy ownership

This policy is owned by [policy owner] on behalf of [employer or responsible body]. Questions about the allocation of estate health and safety responsibilities should be directed to [policy contact].