Health and safety in education

To quote from the authored text : "educational establishments are now so over managed with fearful middle managers (kept awake at night by worries that they will be sued by some angry parents for letting little Joe or Josie walk into a door) that education is suffering". You see health and safety has very little to do with it! As a health and safety practitioner and amember of the two largest health and safety organisations I deplore what is done and said in the false name of health and safety. The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOS) even sponsors the World Conkers Championships to prove health and safety is not about spoiling peopels fun and enjoyment. One of our number, who is blind has taken part in a Sky dive, abseiled down a crevice and taken part in white water rafting!! He does this after a risk assessment has been made and safety controls put in such as having a sighted partner to alert and guide him if any hazards occur that have not been visualised before hand. Do not blame health and safety for the silly and stupid edicts of jobsworths or the cost cutting bureaucrats or couldn't be bothered to conduct a risk assessment so called it off brigade. I have recently seen a topic in a newspaper that said swings and roundabouts had to be removed because of health and safety even though no one had received an injury in 40 years. Not true the fact is the council removed it because of fears someone may be hurt. This is not health and safety but councils not wanting to pay the insurance premiums or have an officer check out that the playground equipment is still safe and is being maintained. Health and safety is about stopping people being ki11ed and/or maimed not about taking the risk out of life. We all need risks to be present to be able to grow intelligently. No need for goggles to be worn and workers gloves to play conkers bruised knuckles are all part of growing up.

When my youngest son was at infant school, we always had a long talk all the way home about how school was, and all he got up 2. One day he came out of school busting to tell me about a project to build something out of cardboard. He had his mind already made up that he wanted to make a tank for his action men. When we got home, we went all around the house looking for things to use that was made out of cardboard. We put them in a bag ready to take to school.
Talk about break his heart...he wasn't allowed to use the loo roll tubes, kitchen roll tubes, or tissue box, because of the germs they may carry. Egg boxes were not allowed either.

I completely and utterly agree. I am 17 years old and hoping to get into University this september to become a primary school teacher, and I can honestly say that one of the things that I am dreading is 'health and safety'. It seems that all a child has to do these days is trip over in a playground and all of a sudden the school is getting sued. It's pathetic. How can these people not realise that when a child trips they learn from their mistakes and carry on.

Toby; you have no idea how much your post has cheered me up!

It is wonderful to hear so much common sense and criticism of the nanny state from someone your age. Perhaps there is hope after all!!

Just don't change, please!

Hello, I'm 16, I now cannot do so many things that I could do just last year, e.g. have a BB Gun.
To be perfectly honest, in my eyes, political correctness and health & safety laws have sent this country to the dogs.
I am no longer allowed to climb trees without appropriate safety harnesses, which defeats the object of climbing the tree. I fell out at 5 metres once, I now check to see wheher or not the tree is rotten first. Common sense.
I am not physically allowed to have fun without having to take out risk assesments. I cannot run up a hill in case I slip, which then means I ought to go home and change my shoes.
I cannot carry a knife in order to whittle wood, as I used to when I was about 10, in case it slips and I cut my finger open, I haven't cut myself since.
I cannot fire an Air Rifle towards anything other than authorised boards of whatever they are, in case the pellets ricochet or cause damage.
I cannot play around with a torch playing "tag" near a road at 10 p.m. because it's too dark to play. I cannot run around playing "Hide & Seek in the dark" at 10 p.m. either, because we might not be able to see a wet patch on the ground. Playing "Hide & Seek in the dark" at 11 a.m. kind of defeats the object of running around throwing glow-sticks at each other.
I cannot ride a push bike without an 'audible warning system', I mean, honestly, how man cars are going to hear a 'ting' as oppose to me screaming at the top of my voice?
Stupid, isn't it.

Hello, my name is Lydia. I am only 14 & still at school. I came across this forum when researching interesting topics for my national public speaking competition on Monday. I have 3 days to highlight all of the worst points about health and safety these days (e.g how chikdren are so mollycoddled they may aas well walk around in bubble wrap, unlike the 'old days' when people learnt from their mistakes). I don't have much time, but if anyone can think up any more ideas, like those listed by everyone else, I would be very grateful. I speak as a child myself, when I agree that health and safety rules and regulations have come to an almost fanatical point, when children are discouraged from doing so many things that used to be the norm only a few years ago. my life so far has been prety short, but even I can remember times when children were allowed out in the near-winter months without being slathered in sun cream lotion! All of your comments have helpeds me immensley, and are all very valid in my opinion! Thank you!

Whatever happened to learning by experience do they think we are unable to "risk assess "for our own safety the HSE has gone bonkers the Government with them
Kids need a little danger and risk in their lives Yes some will end up badly hurt but when they survive like we did they learn as do the people there when it happened you can't teach children by just saying Don't do that Think of your reaction to the sign Wet Paint I still have to see if it is don't you ???
Then having got paint on my hands I have to solve the problem of how to get it off I don't scream and shout for a wet nurse
I am sure that this is a lot of the frustrated anger and silly annoyances that youngsters get up to today is caused by they have no excitement or danger or risk in their lives only the imaginary ones they play on their X box or whatever once again they are being trained in theory where the war games can't hurt the car crash doesn’t break your leg the war game doesn’t Kill
How can they learn about the fact's like this ??????
There is No substitute for experience and never will be life can hurt and does!
that’s the way we learned and have survived through history

All the electric cables are safely tucked away in out Educational Office to make sure no 'little precious' falls over them BUT NO!!!!

All cables need to be exposed to have Poxy little stickers on them to say that they are not about to blow you into Orbit.

This also needs to be done every year in case your Ipod Lead turns evil and decides to assasinate.

H&S GONE BONKERS

At the new Academy I work in,the school day goes from 8:20am untill 5:00 pm including 2 hrs for homework and study.This means that teachers are on hand to help with H/W and study.No H/W is sent home which means that most students get what would have been extra work at home actually completed.The kids did complain at first but now it has become normal to them and they knuckle down.

I belive that in school work should be, debating topics with fellow students and taking notes from teachers, all paper work and assingments should be done at home or during prep hours. I feel reeding a book in class is a waist of time, doing it at home frees you uo to get help from a teacher. in school

I've only been in school for 11 years, but for my wished career it'll be another 14 years before I leave it all behind. Health and Safety rules in schools have been taken to the extremes. My school building is far too small for the 929 or so pupils in it and the techy dept is a health and sefety disaster YET in all my, my sister and my brother's time (16 years) at school there has never ONCE been an accident other than say getting a paper cut, so, do get rid of paper? It's absolutely ridiculous and how are we meant to learn if we can't take risks?

Yes it would be good if when a child had a poor little scratched finger, we didn't get a parent hammering on the school gates screaming compensation and teaching staff not doing their job, but the case is that schools have to more or less cover their backs in case of any accident no matter how small hence the paperwork and duty of care which teachers are only too pleased to comply with.