HEALTH & SAFETY


investigation revealed that heavy items had been stored inappropriately above the classroom, causing a structural failure. The local authority was fined £80,000, and the case served as a stark reminder that a lack of oversight and basic building management can have catastrophic outcomes.


These examples are not just headlines; they are direct lessons in what can go wrong when health and safety is not given the priority it deserves.


Practical steps to stay ahead


Despite the pressures, there are actionable steps schools can take to build a more tactical safety culture. By focusing on these key areas, leaders can meet their statutory obligations and provide a genuinely safe environment for everyone.


Review changes in statutory guidance The updated Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance for 2025 brings new responsibilities, including a heightened focus on digital safety. This includes an explicit requirement to address online risks like misinformation, conspiracy theories, and the use of generative AI in education. Schools must brief all staff on these technical changes and have easy access to updated documentation. Likewise, the revised RSHE guidance increases responsibilities around pupil mental health and wellbeing. Schools should audit their policies and schedule staff training to meet these requirements ahead of time.


Upgrade your safety protocols Last year, a survey found that while most


October 2025


primary school leaders felt their school was safe “every day,” that figure dropped to just 64% for secondary school leaders. To close that gap, it is crucial to make safety an embedded part of school culture. This means making sure that: • Safety audits are conducted regularly, going beyond standard Ofsted inspections to deeply review staff training records and reporting avenues.


• Regular policy reviews are scheduled to reflect the latest statutory guidance and emerging risks.


• Emergency plans are updated and circulated, covering everything from serious injury to severe weather, with drills and exercises conducted regularly


• Training and supervision are consistent, with staff briefed on new risks like digital harms and AI. For designated safeguarding leads, providing supervision can prevent burnout and improve the quality of safeguarding.


Strengthen estate and equipment management


The Rosemead and Danetree incidents highlight the importance of an anticipatory approach to building safety. Schools must schedule and log regular inspections of premises and equipment, and encourage staff to report near-misses as well as incidents. Low-cost preventative measures, such as door hinge guards, can prevent serious accidents and show that the school is committed to managing risk.


Approaches to training are changing To effectively implement these measures, training must be both comprehensive and


manageable. The education sector is seeing a shift away from traditional, lengthy courses that lead to low completion rates. Instead, the focus is on a new generation of training that is shorter, more flexible, and easier to roll out at scale.


This modern approach allows leaders to fit training around the demands of a busy timetable while still guaranteeing coverage of essential content. Courses are designed to be interactive and engaging, using real-world scenarios to help staff better understand and retain information. By prioritising flexible, high- impact training, schools are better positioned to demonstrate compliance and competence when required.


Looking ahead


As schools begin another year, there’s a real chance here to step back, assess where things stand, and make meaningful improvements to health and safety practices.


The stakes are certainly high; when things go wrong, the consequences ripple out in every direction, putting lives at risk, triggering fines, and damaging hard-earned reputations. Compare that to the upfront investment in doing things properly, and the choice becomes clear.


Schools that get this right will create environments where everyone feels genuinely confident about safety. And when you’re ahead of problems rather than scrambling to catch up with them, health and safety stops feeling like another burden on your to-do list. Instead, it becomes part of what makes a school truly strong and ready for whatever comes next.


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