Staff health and safety information and training

Health-and-safety information and training should help you understand the risks connected with the work you actually do. Those risks can differ between roles. For example, a teacher may need information about supervising pupils and using classroom equipment, while a site or science staff member may have different work-related risks. The relevant information should also explain the roles and responsibilities set out in your school’s health-and-safety policy. This helps you understand what is expected of you and how your work fits within the school’s arrangements.

Information and training can be provided in different ways, depending on the person’s work and the particular need. Written guidance may be suitable for some matters; a training course or other more direct learning may be more appropriate for others. Before starting unfamiliar work, look for the school’s health-and-safety policy, relevant risk assessments, induction information, and local instructions. Check what responsibilities your role carries, what hazards have been identified, and where to obtain further guidance. Use the school’s stated local route if anything is unclear.

Hypothetical example: A teaching assistant is asked to support an activity in a room they have not used before. Rather than relying on general induction alone, they check the relevant local instructions and risk assessment, identify the responsibilities attached to supervising pupils, and ask the appropriate school contact about anything they do not understand. The decision is sensible because the information needed depends on the activity, the setting, and the person’s role.

As a school employee, you have four core health-and-safety duties. You must take reasonable care of your own health and safety and of other people who may be affected by your work. You must cooperate with your employer on health-and-safety matters. You must carry out work in accordance with the training and instructions you have been given. You must inform your employer about any work situation that represents a serious and immediate danger, so that remedial action can be taken.

These duties apply to ordinary day-to-day decisions, not only to unusual incidents. Take reasonable care when your actions could affect pupils, colleagues, visitors, or yourself. Cooperate with arrangements designed to manage risks. Use equipment and carry out tasks as instructed rather than improvising a different method. If you identify a situation presenting serious and immediate danger, use the school’s local reporting or escalation route without delay. Before you need it, check the school’s policy or induction information to find out who receives health-and-safety concerns and how urgent concerns are escalated.

Hypothetical example: A member of staff notices that a barrier intended to protect people from an immediate hazard has become ineffective while pupils and colleagues are nearby. They take reasonable steps to avoid exposing people to the danger, follow the school’s local urgent reporting route, and provide the relevant information so remedial action can be taken. They do not simply ignore the problem or create an unapproved workaround.

A likely mistake is to treat a procedure as optional when the task appears familiar or urgent. The correction is to follow the training and instructions provided, while reporting any situation that is unsafe or presents serious and immediate danger. Another mistake is to assume that reporting a concern is someone else’s responsibility. Employees are expected to cooperate with their employer and to inform the employer about serious and immediate dangers.

Work involving a greater element of risk may require extra or specific health-and-safety training. The need is linked to the nature of the work and the responsibilities involved, not simply to a person’s job title. If a task introduces a significant hazard, uses specialist equipment, or gives you responsibility for potentially hazardous materials, do not assume that general induction is enough. Identify the relevant local arrangements and obtain the specific information or training required before undertaking the work.

Examples of work that may require additional or specific training include using industrial machinery, managing asbestos, and being responsible for the storage and accountability of potentially hazardous materials in school buildings. This course only helps you recognise when extra training may be needed; it does not teach those specialist activities. Look for the school’s role requirements, risk assessments, policy information, and arrangements for authorising or supervising the work. If those arrangements do not make the next step clear, ask the relevant school contact before proceeding.

Hypothetical example: A member of the premises team is asked to operate industrial machinery that they have not used before. They recognise that the task involves a greater element of risk, do not rely on general staff induction, and seek the specific training and local authorisation arrangements that apply to the task. The correct decision is to confirm the required preparation before operating the machinery.

A likely mistake is to think that watching someone else perform a higher-risk task, or having done a similar task elsewhere, automatically provides the specific preparation needed. The correction is to check the requirements for the particular work and school setting. Additional training may be needed for work involving machinery, asbestos, hazardous-material storage, or another comparable higher-risk responsibility. Do not undertake specialist work until the relevant local arrangements and training requirements have been confirmed.