FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 30th May 2004

Media Contact: Gill Reed, Brent NUT Health & Safety Officer
E-mail: g.reed@lineone.net

OSTED praises school safety culture despite tragic death of pupil

Staff at Hay Lane school were devastated by the tragic death of a pupil on a school trip. Although exonerated from blame in the Coroner's enquiry they were determined to prevent another such accident.

So staff requested a safety committee to improve matters. It was set up according to NUT and Health & Safety Commission (HSC) guidelines with equal representation from management and unions (NUT, UNISON and ATL). Improvements were made to safety procedures as a result of this collaboration.

Their efforts were rewarded when the recent OFSTED inspection highlighted the 'health & safety culture' as a strength of the school. In particular it said that the school's new educational visits policy is excellent and should be used as a model for other schools.

Staff say that they could not have made this progress without the advice and support of their trade unions.

The dedicated efforts of teachers and support staff were also indicated in the quality of teaching and learning observed. A large number of lessons were deemed "excellent" and 97% of lessons were satisfactory or above.

Gill Reed (Brent NUT Health & Safety Officer) said "Brent LEA has agreed to promote this style of committee in all Brent schools. Hay Lane was the first school to adopt this model of Safety Committee. This shows what can be done when unions and management collaborate.'

John Cullen chair of the HSC Advisory Committee says* that 'Those places with trade union safety representatives and Joint Union Health & Safety Committees have significantly better accident records, with over 50% fewer injuries than those workplaces with no such consultation arrangements.'

END
* Quote from his foreword to HSC's 'Safety Reps Charter' document