The health and safety responsibilities owed by school and college employers – UNISON

The health and safety responsibilities owed by school and college employers

Schools have legal responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees and to ensure other persons, not in their employment, are not exposed to a risk to their health and safety.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to health and safety of employees and others, such as pupils and parents, affected by the conduct of the employer’s undertaking. The Regulations also require the risk assessment to identify the measures necessary to comply with the statutory duties owed by the employer. Where the employer implements such measures, the primary duty is to avoid risks or combat the risks at source. The duties also include having appropriate procedures in place in the event of a serious and imminent danger.

Further, the relevant statutory provisions include the following:

  • Under the 1999 Regulations, any risk assessment shall be reviewed by the employer or self-employed person who made it if there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates;
  • Every employer shall enable persons who are exposed to serious, imminent and unavoidable danger to stop work and, save in exceptional cases for reasons duly substantiated (which cases and reasons shall be specified in those procedures), require the persons concerned to be prevented from resuming work in any situation where there is still a serious and imminent danger.
  • In addition, the employer owes duty to inform and consult with safety representatives. Under the Safety Representative and Safety Committee Regulations 1977 (recognised unions) and the similar regulations applying where unions are not recognised, every employer shall consult safety representatives in good time with regard to the introduction of any measure at the workplace which may substantially affect the health and safety of the employees the safety representatives concerned represent.
  • Employers must ensure that employees who are exposed to risk to their health and safety which have not been adequately controlled by other means are provided with suitable personal protective equipment.
  • Finally, employers owe duties to assess risks and to protect employees against exposure to harmful biological agents under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

 

Sections 44/100 Employment Rights Act 1996

Under sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees are protected from detriment or dismissal where there exist circumstances of danger which they reasonably believe to be serious and imminent, and  they leave or propose to leave, or otherwise refuse to return to their place of work (or any dangerous part of the workplace. There are also protections under these provisions for those who take appropriate steps to protect themselves or others in circumstances which the employee reasonably believes amounts to a serious and imminent danger.

If you are concerned about these legal rights as they apply to you, further advice should be sought from your branch.

 

For more information and advice click on link to UNISON web site here

http://msg.unison.org.uk/q/1myd86IiEb7HxZh55p4T/wv

Breaking News:  Early Years/ Nursery Schools zoom meeting Sunday 17 at 11am

Sunday Jan 17, 2021 11:00 AM 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82065448996?pwd=M0pkRExzc0o5OVFNRUtPM2xFN0U1UT09
Meeting ID: 820 6544 8996
Passcode: 121124

 

Please click on this link to our website with reasons behind this being called.

Breaking News: Government threat of funding cut to Heads of Nursery Schools and Early Years

Breaking News: Government threat of funding cut to Heads of Nursery Schools and Early Years

URGENT: Please read the document issued by the Department of Education yesterday evening.

You can read the full report by clicking on the link below.

Coronavirus-related support for submitting an Early Years Census 2021 return

 

This report is an attempt to:

  1. Defy the science by forcing all Nursery Schools and Early Years to re-open
  2. Bully the Nursery Schools and Early Years with threats of serious funding cuts if they don’t fully reopen immediately
  3. Pick a fight with the Trade Unions.

Summary of the report as follows:

This report changes things seriously for Nursery Schools and Early Years setting because it states that unless they fully reopen they will not get the funding they have had for the previous terms.

As we all know thee above settings are opening for pupils of key workers and vulnerable children.

The Government in this report are saying that is not good enough and that they need to fully reopen.

Nursery Schools and Early Years settings need all of our help. Most parents and members of the public will not be aware of this latest attack.

Please help share this post.

 

 

 

 

 

UNISON and NEU point out Government Minister is wrong about legal advice on safety

 

IMPORTANT: This is the joint trade union email sent to all Schools and Leaders. 

 

“Dear XXX

We apologise for writing to you at such a difficult time. We know the intense pressure schools are under, both as a result of Covid-19 and because of the repeated sudden changes in Government policies.

However, yesterday the Department for Education (DfE) e-mailed you about recent advice UNISON and the National Education Union (NEU) gave its members on the safety of face-to-face teaching in schools.

This email followed Gavin Williamson saying in Parliament: ‘I’d like to thank both the National Education Union and UNISON for recognising the fact that the action that they took and the advice that they gave their members on Sunday was incorrect and that they have withdrawn that advice”. Gavin Williamson was simply wrong. At no point have UNISON or the NEU said the guidance and advice to members was incorrect.

That advice was issued before 4 January when Government was directing all schools to remain fully open to all pupils. On the 4 January, Government directed the closure of schools except for the attendance of vulnerable children and those of critical workers. Because of this radical change of Government direction, we removed the advice on section 44 from our websites. But this emphatically does not mean we believe face-to-face work with full or near full classes in schools is safe in the current circumstances – far from it. Neither does the removal of this advice from our websites indicate that we do not believe it was the right advice to give at the time.

Contrary to the impression given by the DfE circular, the existence of the new strain of the virus greatly exacerbates the serious risks to the health and safety of those working in schools. It is irrelevant that the new strain of the virus may not cause more serious illness in those children or adults who are infected by it. The increase in risk arises from the fact that the new strain is highly transmissible, between 50-74% more transmissible than pre-existing variations of Covid-19, according to London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The historic data on infection rates among teachers referred to by the DfE fails to capture the greatly increased threat arising from the new strain.

It is because of the new strain that infection rates and the R number have dramatically increased since December. It was precisely because of the “increase in risk associated with the new variant” that SAGE recommended closing schools as part of a strategy of strengthening control measures at its meeting on 22 December. That is why the Government finally decided to close schools to most pupils; and that is why school staff faced a greater risk of catching Covid-19 than they did before. This is, or should be, obvious to the DfE and Government.

In that light, is completely inadequate for the DfE to assert that the existing controls in school “create an inherently safer [sic] environment for children, young people and staff” and that the “way to control this virus is the same, whatever the variant”. Members who work in schools have a right to work in a safe working environment, and workers who reasonably believe they are facing serious and imminent danger have the right to leave the workplace. The effect of those rights must be fundamentally reassessed owing to the greater risk of transmission posed by the new variant of Covid-19. The same applies to the existing control measures adopted in schools.

We only summarise the relevant legal provisions below. The key point is that all these legal duties must now be viewed in circumstances where Covid-19 is much more transmissible than it was before owing to the new strain.

  • Schools owe duties under s 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees. This includes a duty to provide work systems and work environments which are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health. Schools owe similar duties to others, who are not in their employment, under s.3 of the Act.
  • Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to health and safety affected by the conduct of the employer’s undertaking. The risk assessment must be reviewed whenever there is a “significant change in the matters to which it relates”. The new strain of Covid-19 triggers this duty.
  • Employers must establish appropriate procedures which enable employees to leave or stop work if they are exposed to serious, imminent and unavoidable dangers.
  • Measures for controlling risks to health and safety must be adopted in accordance with a hierarchy of measures set out in Schedule 1 to the 1999 Regulations. The primary duty is “avoiding risks”, followed by “evaluating risks which cannot be avoided” and then “combating the risks at source”. All these duties point towards avoiding face-to-face teaching and teaching on-line given the high risk of transmission posed by the new strain.
  • While there is a duty to provide suitable PPE to those who are exposed to risks to health and safety, this is only intended as a last resort, where a “risk has not adequately been controlled by other means”.
  • Schools owe duties to assess risks and to protect employees against exposure to biological agents, such as the new strain of Covid-19, under the COSSH Regulations 2002.
  • Employers must inform and consult with safety representatives under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1977 (and the linked regulations where no union is recognised) on all matters to do with health and safety. This should include consultation on the appropriate steps to take in light of the risks posed by the new strain of Covid-19.
  • Finally, under sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees are protected from detriment or dismissal where there exist circumstances of danger which they reasonably believe to be serious and imminent, and they leave or propose to leave, or otherwise refuse to return to their place of work. There are also protections under these provisions for those who take appropriate steps to protect themselves or others in circumstances which the employee reasonably believes amounts to a serious and imminent danger., These rights remain very relevant to those engaged in face-to-face work in schools, especially in light of the new strain of Covid-19. Employees must not be subjected to any disadvantage, such as deductions from pay, where they exercise these rights.

We hope that that this makes our position clear and corrects the impression given by the e-mail from the DfE.

Finally we would like to show our appreciation for the work of our sister head teachers unions NAHT and ASCL during this difficult period. We have shared this letter with them and know that they are as exasperated with the Government as you are.

 

 

Mass Testing in Schools –  UNISON update 23/12/20

UNISON’s National Schools Committee and representatives of UNISON’s FE committee met with Department for Education (DfE) and NHS Test and Trace officials on Tuesday 22nd December to discuss the Government’s plans for mass testing of school staff and pupils in secondary schools and colleges in England in January.  Amongst a host of issues the committee highlighted concerns about the reliability of the proposed tests, numbers and roles of staff that would be involved, potential increased workloads, full training, availability of appropriate PPE, face coverings  and  the roll out of the programme to Primary  and Special  Schools.

In particular the committee made clear that whilst we support the use of mass testing in schools, that due to concerns with the high rate of false negative lateral flow test results , this test should not be used as an alternative to self-isolation of close contacts and bubbles following conformed Covid cases.  The British Medical Journal, World Health Organisation,  Royal Society of Statisticians and Royal College of Pathologists have all warned that these tests can miss a substantial proportion of cases and should not be used alone to identify the infection.   Additionally, government figures from a mass testing pilot in Liverpool in over 5,000 people without symptoms showed that up to half of positives were missed, which included up to 30% who had high viral loads and so had a higher risk of infecting others.  Recent press reports have also suggested that  some of these community based pilots may be suspended whilst further analysis is carried out.

Therefore UNISON calls on the DfE not to rush ahead with  programme in January, but to work with schools on a sensible timetable.  It is also vital that the Department amends its mass testing guidance to make clear that  schools should use testing only as an ‘additional’ measure to identify potential asymptotic cases and not  as an alternative to self-isolation of all close contacts and bubbles. DfE communications should also explain that the lateral flow test cannot confirm that an individual has not been infected with Covid-19, as this could lead to a false sense of security by people who test negative, which could lead them to unintentionally spread the virus.

We also call on the DfE to advise schools to continue on-line learning in January  beyond the first week currently proposed.  Full re-opening should only commence when schools and local public health authorities  are  satisfied that  local infection rates are at levels which make it safe for staff, pupils and communities  to return. We continue to call on government to rapidly expand the provision of laptop and internet access to ensure that all pupils have access to online learning.

UNISON’s schools committee previously agreed that:

  • We support mass testing in schools to try stop the spread of the virus (on a sensible timetable)
  • Any testing site in a school must be fully planned and risk assessed with union engagement
  • Staff should only undertake the testing duty if they volunteer, and if they are comfortable with their competence after appropriate training – in line with Department for Education guidance ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’.
  • Staff involved in the testing programme should have correct PPE, appropriate clinical oversight and clear guarantees around any potential liabilities
  • The work of staff volunteering to participate should not be passed to other current staff, who are already overworked.
  • Any additional staff time must be fully paid at the appropriate rate
  • Due to reported high percentage of false negatives generated by the ‘lateral flow test’ being proposed it should only be used an additional measure. Bubbles and self-isolation, alongside all additional other safety measures, should be retained for the foreseeable future.
  • Staff asked to take a test themselves  as part of a mass lateral flow testing programme where cases have not been identified, may do so voluntarily, but it should not be compulsory. UNISON  will encourage staff to participate fully in the testing programme, subject to the above points

 

Important update for Barnet UNISON members in schools.

Dear Member

UNISON National has responded to widespread calls for advice for all of our members working I schools, nurseries and early years settings.

The draft email below is for members to send to their Head Teacher.

Please copy in Barnet UNISON when you send in the email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Model letter for UNISON members in schools, nurseries and early years in England

 

Dear [insert name of head/employer],

Re: Health & Safety

I am writing to you following the increase in transmission and infection rates currently recorded across England.

You are, I am sure, aware that you have legal duties to protect the health, safety and welfare of your staff and pupils. Those duties arise under the following legislation: –

  • Sections 2 and 3 of the Health & Safety Act 1974
  • Regulations 3 and 8 of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999
  • Regulation 4 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
  • Regulation 4 of the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992
  • Regulation 7 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

The most recent advice from SAGE is that schools should not open in January[1] other than for children of key workers and vulnerable children. This is because the scientific advice is that it is not safe for schools to open. There are new variants of Covid-19 that are highly infectious and infection rates have increased significantly since schools closed.

I appreciate that measures have been in place since September to allow the school to open but according to SAGE those measures may no longer be sufficient. They state in their most recent report: –

The introduction of Tier 4 measures in England combined with the school holidays will be informative of the strength of measures required to control the new variant but analysis of this will not be possible until mid-January.

Based on the above I do not believe that it is safe for me to return to [insert name of school].

If I do attend [name of school] I believe that this will present a serious and imminent danger to my health and safety.

I am therefore writing to inform you that I am exercising my contractual right not to attend an unsafe place of work. I believe that not attending work in the current circumstances is an appropriate step for me to take for the following reasons:

  1. The dangers that are preventing me from attending work are the risk of contracting coronavirus and or spreading coronavirus to others.
  2. The person(s) I am seeking to protect are myself, my family, our pupils, their families, my colleagues, their families and members of the public.

 

  1. I believe that this danger is serious because coronavirus infection is potentially fatal and has already resulted in more than 73,512 deaths in the UK with a significant up surge in recent weeks.

 

  1. I believe that, if I were to attend work, the danger would be imminent because before Christmas the highest infection rates were in children of school age, and the new variant may be more transmissible amongst students than previously.

 

  1. I will be happy to return to the workplace once SAGE is satisfied that the R rate has decreased, scientific advice has been produced on safety measures required to make schools more “Covid secure”, risk assessments have been updated and any necessary further safety measures implemented.

 

In the meantime, I am of course willing to carry out any of my duties or alternative agreed duties at my grade that can be undertaken from my home, and to be in school supporting provision and the learning of key worker and vulnerable children where necessary.

Yours sincerely,

[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948606/s0991-sage-meeting-74-covid-19.pdf

 

Important:

Please note this advice applies to all primary schools, special schools, SEND and early years settings in England.

You can read the advice in full on the UNISON website here

https://www.unison.org.uk/january-schools-advice/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2%20Jan%20branch%20email&utm_source=Education&utm_content=Advice%20for%20members

 

 

 

 

Breaking News: Emergency Schools Zoom meeting for our members

Dear member

No surprisingly anxieties are running high with respect to the opening of schools etc from Monday morning.

We have a Government insistent on exposing workers to high risk of COVID to save face.

Nonetheless workers are wondering what they should do for the best.

The one thing we can offer is a safe space for colleagues to discuss their options and decide for themselves what they want to do.

I appreciate not everyone will be able to join in this zoom meeting but at least if we offer this early on in the day it gives an opportunity to contact others if we want to or need to.

Happy New Year everyone and see whoever can make our zoom meeting Sunday 3 January 2021 at 11am,

Solidarity

Barnet UNISON is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: BEYA TU zoom meeting

Time: Jan 3, 2021 11:00 AM London

Join Zoom Meeting details below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87042293661?pwd=cE5Qbng3bHlyb1hlaERaMHlLa211dz09

Meeting ID: 870 4229 3661

Passcode: 481058

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