Risk Assessments are central to the management of Health and Safety within a School or Premises.
Line managers (Principals, Vice-Principals, Heads of Departments, Managers) have a responsibility to carry out Risk Assessments and ensure that they are suitable and sufficient.
Generic Risk Assessments have been produced to assist Schools and Management with the Risk Assessment process and should form a good foundation for identifying hazards, assessing risks and implementing controls. However, you must also pay attention to your own school/premises environment. Some Assessments may not be relevant to your establishment, others may need customising to suit your specific location and/or work activity and others may not need changing at all.
In a Risk Assessment an evaluation of the risk, acknowledging existing control measures, is calculated by multiplying a pre-determined numerical value applied to both the likelihood of something occurring (ranges from remote/rare (1) to highly probable/almost certain (5)) and its severity (minor (1) to catastrophic (5)). This gives a Risk Score which allows you to prioritise the risks differentiating between those which require immediate attention and those that require monitoring, or no further action.
Upon completion of the Risk Evaluation you will be able to determine if additional control measures are necessary to control or reduce the risk.
The Risk Assessment templates list some of the more usual hazards identified in the school environment and their associated risks and a range of control measures that should be in place to eliminate such hazards or reduce the risks. The forms are only partially completed and will need to be adapted by a competent person from your establishment, who can complete the rest of the form having considered the generic hazards, risks and control measures listed on the form and adding any site specific items identified. While primarily designed for schools, the generic assessment can be amended and adopted for other environments. The templates do not contain an exhaustive list of all the hazards and risks present in your school/premises and it may be necessary to use the blank forms included for those hazards which have not been specifically dealt with.
Your Risk Assessment should only include what you could reasonably be expected to know – you are not expected to anticipate unforeseeable risks. Further information on the Risk Assessment process is contained in the Manual for Principals and Governors - Manual for Principals and Governors.
Generic School Risk Assessments
Generic School Site Premises Risk Assessments
Generic Building Supervisor and Cleaning Staff Risk Assessments
Generic Off Site Visits Risk Assessments
Generic School Fun Night Risk Assessments
Generic Gas Safety Risk Assessments
Display Screen Equipment Assessment Form
If you use display screen equipment (DSE) daily, as part of your normal work, continuously for an hour or more, you must complete this risk assessment. Upon completion please send this form to your line manager to action as appropriate. Please read pages 10 to 13 of the EA Basic Health and Safety Awareness Training prior to completing this risk assessment.
COSHH Assessment Template and Guidance
Maternity Risk Assessment
The assessment was produced by Health & Well-Being to assist schools and line managers in identifying the hazards that new and expectant mothers may face in the working environment.
Risk Assessment for New and Expectant Mothers
The completion of this risk assessment is required by law to assist schools and line managers in identifying the hazards that new and expectant mothers may face in the working environment. If you have any queries on the completion of this assessment, please contact the EA Health and Wellbeing Service.
A copy of the completed assessment should be given to the new/expectant mother and the original stored in the employee’s file.