British Safety Council

Fact sheet: Health & safety for children/schools

Children’s Safety:

  • Unintentional injury is the main cause of death in childhood in the UK, and a major cause of ill health and disability.
  • There are great variations in injury, mortality and morbidity – reflecting children’s age, gender, socio-economic group, cultural or ethnic group, and location.
  • Children as a group are particularly vulnerable to injury and have little say in how environments are planned.

Source: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)

Injuries to children:

In 2005/06:

  • 20 fatal injuries to children were reported, including 16 in the service industries sector and four in the agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing sector
  • 5,540 non-fatal injuries to children were reported.
  • In schools, there were a total of four fatalities and 8,367 non-fatal injuries recorded. (Accidents in schools reported to HSE under RIDDOR are classed as members of the public, and include all age groups). 

Source: Health & Safety Executive/ RIDDOR - Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

Abuse and neglect:

A significant minority of children suffer serious abuse or neglect including:

  • 7% of children experienced serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents or carers during childhood.
  • 1% of children experienced sexual abuse by a parent or carer and another 3% by another relative during childhood.
  • 11% of children experienced sexual abuse by people known but unrelated to them. 5% of children experienced sexual abuse by an adult stranger or someone they had just met.
  • 6% of children experienced serious absence of care at home during childhood.
  • 6% of children experienced frequent and severe emotional maltreatment during childhood.

Source: NSPCC

Accidents in the home:

  • Accidental injuries to children at home result in around one million A&E visits each year
  • Over 40% of all childhood accidental injuries occur at home and in the garden
  • Falls are the most common single cause of home accidental injury, and account for over 40% of all home accidental injuries to children. 
  • Collisions with a person or object are the second most common type of accidental home injury and the only one where the injury rates are approximately the same for children of all ages.
  • The need to remove a foreign body that has been swallowed, inhaled or is stuck elsewhere is the second most common cause of hospital attendance for accidental home injury to children

Source: ROSPA

Childline:

The main problems children contact Childline about are:

  • Bullying (23% of calls)
  • Family issues (12%)
  • Physical abuse (9%)
  • Concern for others (7%)
  • Facts of life (7%)
  • Sexual abuse (6%)

Source: Childline (figures for 2005)

Health & Safety in schools:

  • Health and safety responsibilities apply whenever school staff are in charge or control of a child, both on school premises and on educational visits.
  • Local authorities must ensure pupil health and safety in community schools and voluntary controlled schools.
  • As the employer, the school's governing body is responsible for this in foundation and voluntary aided schools.

First Aid in schools:

  • Schools must provide minimum first aid, during all school activities on and off-site, both during and outside normal school hours.
  • Maintained schools must have accommodation for medical examination/treatment and for the care of sick or injured pupils. This should ideally be provided as two separate spaces, i.e.
    • A sick room, which should be reasonably near to a toilet
    • A medical inspection room

Source: Department for Education and Skills

Support for medical needs:

Most children with medical needs - for example, those who are physically ill or injured or have mental health problems - are able to attend school regularly, and with support from the school can take part in most normal school activities.

If a child cannot go to school because of their medical needs or health problems, the local authority has a responsibility to enable them to continue their education with medical advice/as their condition allows. Pupils at home:

  • Should not be without access to education for more than 15 working days
  • Should receive an education of similar quality to that available in school
  • Have a minimum entitlement of five hours teaching per week

Source: Every Child Matters

School Security:

Specific responsibility for school security is not set down in legislation, but school security is related to health and safety. So whoever has responsibility for health and safety should consider what security measures are necessary to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the safety of the staff and pupils.

  • Local authorities should have a general policy for security covering all the schools for which they are responsible.
  • Each school should also have a more detailed policy drawn up by the governors and the head teacher.
  • Independent schools should have a security policy, and must ensure that it has adequate security arrangements for the grounds and buildings.

Source: Department for Education and Skills

Identifying and preventing abuse:

Schools should have measures in place to detect and prevent abuse, including:

  • Staff trained to be alert to signs of abuse
  • Making a senior member of staff responsible for child protection
  • Procedures for checking staff before they are allowed to work with children
  • A child protection policy which includes procedures to be followed if a teacher or another member of staff is accused of harming a child

Reporting abuse:

If a member of school staff suspects a child is being abused, they should tell the staff member responsible for child protection. They will take the appropriate action and make sure the authorities, such as police or local social services are notified.

Outside school, anyone suspecting child abuse should report it to the police or social services

Source: Department for Education and Skills

Staff checks:

School must carry out checks on the background and criminal records of all staff who have contact with children. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 introduced a new vetting and barring scheme to strengthen the procedures for checking staff who work with children or vulnerable adults. The scheme is due to be phased in from autumn 2008 and is intended to:

  • Provide employers with a more effective and streamlined vetting service for potential employees
  • Bar unsuitable individuals from working, or seeking to work, with children and vulnerable adults at the earliest opportunity

Source: Department for Education and Skills

Education:

Schools are encouraged to use Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) lessons to cover such issues as:

  • Risky behavior
  • Appropriate and inappropriate physical contact
  • Dealing with peer pressure

Source: Department for Education and Skills

Bullying:

Bullying is defined as “deliberately hurtful behaviour that is repeated over a period of time”. The DFES believes this includes:

  • Teasing, abusive remarks and name calling
  • Threats and physical violence
  • Damage to property
  • Leaving pupils out of social activities deliberately
  • Spreading rumours
  • Upsetting mobile phone or email messages
  • Upsetting mobile phone or email messages i.e. cyberbullying

Source: Department for Education and Skills

Sources:

  • Department for Education and Skills
  • Every Child Matters
  • Teachernet
  • Health and Safety Executive
  • National Statistics