Health and Safety on School Trips
Health and Safety on School Trips
“Just about the safest place a child could be is on a school trip, writes Phil Revell, and teachers have little to fear either” Phil Revell The Guardian, Tuesday 15 March 2005
Most state schools will have an Educational Visit Co-ordinator (EVC) through them group leaders should follow their own employer’s health and safety guidelines given by their Local Authority’s Outdoor Education Advisor (OEA). Schools outside the state sector may also contact them for information and guidance, although they may charge for some services. Find your local advisor and access information go to the Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel website.
The DCSF produces guidance which will often form the basis of local policies. This is published on TeacherNet, Health and Safety on Visits. Their advice the Health and Safety of Pupils on School Visits (HASPEV) is due to be released soon.
Schools in Scotland and Wales have their own health and safety advice at:
Health and Safety on Educational Excursions: A Good Practice Guide
` Welsh Assembly Government: Educational Visits Guidance
By using a tour operator organisers can delegate many of the health and safety checks, protect themselves with important safeguards and free time to concentrate on other elements of the trip.
LOtC
Learning outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge was launched in 2009. This provides teachers with an easy means of verifying health and safety suppliers. The LOtC Quality Badge demands meet all the requirements of the above advice and guidance. By selecting a LOtC badged provider, teachers can demonstrate their due diligence whilst easily ensuring their supplier has safety management processes in place to manage risk effectively.
If not using a tour operator you can use this site to check out the school trip venue or school group accommodation that you are interested in using and ask for all their relevant information.
By far the easiest thing to do is use a School Tour operator who has done or will do all the checking for you.
If using a Tour operator make sure they are full members of the School Travel Forum or follow equivalent Codes of Practice
