Health and safety

At the Devon Health and Safety Service, our Health and Safety Advisers are qualified to CertIOSH or Chartered level with the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and hold additional qualifications in fire safety. The service is an IOSH approved training provider. We provide services at your establishment and aim to provide solutions in accordance with the principles of sensible and proportional risk management.

We support schools, academies and colleges to fulfil their legal duties in relation to health and safety (H&S) matters. The service provides specialist advice and practical support on a wide range of H&S issues relating to employees, premises, pupils/students, visitors, contractors, activities, security, equipment, off-site activities, emergencies and curriculum safety.

We offer two levels of service to maintained schools in addition to the core activities that Devon County Council provides.

We offer two levels of service, basic and full. The full service includes all the elements in the basic and also incorporates a range of additional services e.g. undertaking fire risk assessments, complex risk assessments, etc.

Basic service

• Acting as the Competent Person under Section 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations for foundation,  trust, voluntary aided, academies and independent schools and colleges (County schools are provided this by their employer)
• Provision of health, safety and wellbeing information, guidance and policies that are reviewed regularly in line with new  legislation, good practice and case law
• On-going support for your H&S Co-ordinator
• Helpline service: Duty H&S Adviser available office hours for routine matters and out-of-hours emergency response for serious injuries/ incidents. Helpline covers all safety matters, including educational visits, work experience
• Emergency out-of-hours response for serious injuries/incidents
• Membership of CLEAPSS and associated CLEAPSS materials
• Radiological Protection Advisory Service through CLEAPSS via our Radiation Protection Officer and monitoring visit every two years
• Primary and nursery establishments - 3 yearly onsite assistance visits which include an overall health and safety management system. Secondary and special school establishments - Annual onsite assistance visit which includes an overall health and safety management system review every three years. Visits on non-review cycle years to be determined by the establishment but  could include high-risk curriculum area support, assistance with routine premises inspection, or risk assessment preparation.
• Management review visits include a post-visit report, action plan and on-going support
• A follow-up to any H&S review where the initial visit falls below certain standards
• Induction for new Principals/H&S Co-ordinators
• Access to the OSHENS web-based H&S management system for accident reporting, Arrangements, risk assessments, and display screen equipment risk assessment
• Access to the Evolve Educational and Offsite visits system
• Reporting all RIDDOR reportable accidents to the HSE (via the OSHENS system)
• Assistance with serious accident investigations
• Liaison with all enforcement bodies (HSE, Fire Brigade, Environmental Health) and Ofsted
• Liaison with establishment-based trade unions, professional bodies and governors
• Termly newsletter and hazard alerts

Full service

As per all activities in the basic level, plus the following:

• Direct assistance (4 hours at primary level, 7 hours at secondary/special level) per academic year which may include:
  • Assistance to the establishment’s Responsible Person in carrying out the annual fire risk assessment review
  • Reviewing areas of concern
  • Provision of in-house training
  • H&S induction for new Heads of higher risk departments e.g. Science, D&T
  • Review of establishment risk assessments for suitability and sufficiency
  • A full premises inspection with a written report and action plan
  • Assistance with safety documentation during civil litigation
  • Attendance at health and safety committee meetings, safety sub groups, governors meetings and pupil council meetings as requested
  • Assistance with carrying out complex risk assessments

Additional ‘pay-to-use’ services

• Training courses via the published Health & Safety training programme
• Establishment/learning community-based bespoke training sessions
• Assistance to the establishment’s Responsible Person in carrying out the annual fire risk assessment review
• Review of establishment risk assessments for suitability and sufficiency
• Any activity listed in the full service specification
• Direct assistance with carrying out complex risk assessments

We offer two levels of service (basic and full) to academies, independent schools and colleges with additional ‘Pay-to-Use’  services The full service includes all the elements in the basic service and also incorporates a range of additional services detailed below.

Basic service

• Acting as the Competent Person under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations for Foundation, Trust, Voluntary Aided, Academies and Independent Schools and Colleges
• Provision of health and safety information, arrangements and policies that are reviewed regularly in line with new legislation, good practice and case law
• On-going support for your H&S Co-ordinator
• Helpline service: Duty H&S Adviser available office hours for routine matters Helpline covers all safety matters, including educational visits, work experience
• Emergency out-of-hours response for serious injuries/incidents
• Membership of CLEAPSS and access to website and associated materials
• Radiological Protection Advisory Service through CLEAPSS via our Radiation Protection Officer and monitoring visit every two years
• A visit to review your H&S management system and every three years*
• For Secondary schools, additional 5 reviews of high-risk areas during the three-year period (2 per year)*
• For Primary schools, assistance on non-review cycle years to be determined by the establishment but could include assistance with the routine premise inspection, work experience support, risk assessment preparation etc.
• Management review visits include a post-visit report, action plan and on-going support
• Induction for new Principals/H&S Co-ordinators
• Access to the OSHENS web-based H&S management system for accident reporting, arrangements, risk assessments and display screen equipment risk assessment
• Access to the Evolve Educational and Offsite visits system (Note. For independent endorsement of visits, the academy will require a separate SLA with Devon Education Services)
• Reporting all RIDDOR reportable accidents to the HSE (via the OSHENS system)
• Assistance with serious accident investigations
• Liaison with all enforcement bodies (HSE, Fire Brigade, Environmental Health) and Ofsted
• Liaison with establishment-based trade unions, professional bodies and governors
• Termly newsletter and hazard alerts

Full service

As per all activities in the basic level, plus direct assistance (4 hours at primary level, 7 hours at secondary/special level). Examples of how this time could be used include:

• Assistance to the establishment’s Responsible Person in carrying out the annual fire risk assessment review
• Review of establishment risk assessments for suitability and sufficiency
• Assistance with safety documentation during civil litigation
• Provision of an in-house H&S training event
• H&S induction for heads of higher risk departments e.g. Science/D&T
• Attendance at H&S committee meetings or governor meeting
• Personalised arrangements and policies (for academies and independent schools/colleges only)

Additional ‘pay-to-use’ services (subject to availability)

• Training courses via the published Health & Safety training programme
• Establishment/learning community-based bespoke training sessions
• Assistance to the establishment’s Responsible Person in carrying out the annual fire risk assessment review
• Review of establishment risk assessments for suitability and sufficiency
• Any other activity listed in the full service specification
• Direct assistance with carrying out complex risk assessments

Following its introduction last year, schools continue to have the opportunity to upgrade to Evolve+, an optional add-on to the standard Evolve system that gives a greater amount of functionality, allowing more flexibility and efficiency in planning offsite trips.

Features in Evolve+ include:

• The ability to link Evolve directly to your MIS for populating student and staff names
• Outline approval, which can involve any other key members of staff (e.g. Finance etc.) in the visit form process
• Calendar feeds, which can feed trip information into Outlook/iCal calendars of relevant staff
• Gain parental consent online rather than having to use a separate paper system
• The ability to send texts and emails to the parents of visit attendees directly from the Evolve system (additional cost per text applies)

Cost: £200 + VAT, in addition to your standard SLA cost.
If you want further information about Evolve+, please follow the ‘Evolve+’ link on the front page of OSHENS.

* Whilst the H&S Review visits are to assist the academy with their management of H&S systems, they also provide the Devon  H&S Services with the professional reassurance that they require and may assist in determining advice regarding additional  support. Where any academy fails to reasonably engage in this review process, the Devon H&S Services may consider termination of the SLA or not offering a renewal at the end of the term of the SLA.