In the last year there have been a number of developments.
Accidents and Committees
A serious accident in a DT classroom in one of the Secondary Schools in which a
student lost the end of his finger led to an HSE investigation which revealed
that appropriate procedures/risk assessments had not been carried out. The
teacher concerned was not an NUT member. The senior management of the school
was found culpable. There is now a new Head teacher. The knock on effect across
the borough has meant that
i) All community schools now buy into the Islington Health and Safety Service
ii) An audit of DT has taken place, currently being supplemented by a specific
look at dust extractors
iii) There is now an Education Health and Safety Working Group with serious
input from representatives of school managements across the borough as well as
the Health and Safety officers and Union Reps from ourselves UNISON and GMB.
NASUWT and the Heads unions are not yet represented. The idea is to make sure
that, as far as it is humanly possible, similar accidents do not recur.
One issue of common concern in the BSF schools is the sometimes slow pace and
low standard of repair carried out by Cofley (the private contractors
responsible for maintenance) and the tendency for responsibility to be buck
passed. whenever problems require significant funding to put right.
Alongside this, we are now on the Corporate Health and Safety Committee, which
oversees H&S across all borough departments and also has representation
from UCATT and the Council itself.
Tighter health and Safety organisation in schools and the union role
Part of this overhaul of H&S structures in the borough is making
sure that all schools are up to date with procedures and having a responsible
person from the management to look after health and safety
matters. Issues will vary from school to school.
It is important to be clear that if there is a union health and safety
rep that is not the same as the school having "someone for health and
safety". Managements often make this mistake but the role is different.
The school management has a legal responsibility to follow health and
safety procedures. Union health and safety reps (or general reps who might have
to deal with H&S issues) do not have legal responsibility.
Our job is to know who the management person is and make sure they run
H&S issues by us. The union favours formalising this as a school health and
safety committee which meets regularly to make sure that issues are addressed
as a matter of habit and routine and members concerns can be
focussed.
Stress
The stress survey we carried out last year has helped us make the case for
pro-active stress surveys carried out by schools on an annual basis. Proposals
to this effect are being put by the borough H&S manager to the next H&S
Working Group. The devil will be in the details but this is very promising.
At the same meeting we will be using the government's recent concession that
schools should adopt a work life balance policy to push the NUT model. |