Essential health and safety for managers

This page exists to provide managers and headteachers with essential knowledge and information in order to develop the competencies needed to manage health and safety proportionately to the risk within individual service areas or schools.

Frequently Asked Questions 

• Essential H&S Training for Managers

Essential elements

• Complete the e-learning course - Health and safety for Managers
• Complete the H&S Management Questionnaire
• Read Essentials:
  • Risk Assessment
  • Accident Investigation
• Read: Manager/Headteacher Start Guide
• Read: Accident-Incident Reporting Managers Guide
• Read: Health and Safety Handbook for Managers/Headteachers (see H&S Training – More information)
• Complete the Declaration of Completion

H&S Management Questionnaire

The H&S Management Questionnaire is designed to help you understand the general level of risk in your service area. However, it should only be used as a guide and service managers must consider areas within the service which may have specific risk which needs to be controlled.  Further advice on how to manage risk is detailed in the section below.

Recommended resource materials

• H&S Policy and Arrangements - All staff should familiarise themselves with the responsibilities set out in the Policy and Arrangements
• Safe Working Procedures - These provide guidance to managers on the Council’s procedures for ensuring that we manage risk effectively and comply with legislation. A guide to assist managers and employees to understand which SWPs apply to their role is included as appendix 1 of the Health and Safety Arrangement
• Further Reading - Some suggested further reading material to help plug any gaps in a manager's knowledge
• Forms Library - These forms are to help you manage workplace Health and Safety
• Action Plan Template - A useful template which managers may use to manage actions identified through this process
• Training Needs Analysis - This tool has been developed to aid managers in identifying what courses they or their staff need to attend
• Quick Start Guides – These provide an overview of duties at a glance

Health and Safety Training – Further Information

In most cases training has to be booked through Learning and Development (see information below):

Health and Safety Handbook for Managers/Head Teachers

This handbook has been developed to assist new managers/head teachers to understand their health and safety responsibilities and is a mandatory pre-read to the manager’s/head teacher's health and safety courses.

You can download the Handbook in A4 format:

• Health and Safety Handbook for Managers
• Health and Safety Handbook for Headteachers and Governors

Safe Working Procedures - SWP’s

These provide guidance to managers on the Council’s procedures for ensuring staff are competent to carry out their role.

• Safe working procedures

Training Needs Analysis

This tool has been developed to aid managers in identifying what courses they or their staff need to attend.

• Corporate training matrix (non-school)
• School training matrix

Online training (e-learning)

All online training is hosted by Learning and Development.

Online training for Manager’s is available as listed below and Manager’s should complete all as applicable;

• e-learning course - Health and safety for Managers
• e-learning course - Health and safety for Homeworkers (Managers)
• e-learning course - Lone Working (Managers)
• e-learning course - Stress Management (Managers)

Classroom based training (face-to-face)

All face-to-face training is booked through Learning and Development.

• Health and Safety for Managers
• Lone Working
• Fire Marshal
• DSE Assessor
• Risk Assessment
• Accident-Incident Reporting and Investigation
• Responsible Person – Premises Management
• School Business Manager Awareness

Stress Management

Managers have a duty to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of their employees and the Council has bought into the HSE’s Stress Management Tool towards supporting managers in this.

The tool is aimed at pro-actively surveying staff towards identifying potential stress related issues within a workplace and is suited to surveying large groups of people across in a service.

Where stress has been identified on an individual basis the HSE provide a Stress Talking Toolkit.

For help with either of the above, please contact the Corporate Health and Safety Service via email at health.and.safety@southampton.gov.uk

Staged Health and Safety Audits

The Council operate a ‘staged’ audit process for Health and Safety. This is based on risk and allows the Corporate Health and Safety Service (CHSS) to focus their activities where the need is greatest.

Towards this, Services or Schools may be asked to complete a ‘Stage 1’ audit form. Once this is returned to CHSS the information provided will be reviewed to determine whether or not further support might be required, in which case further actions may be advised or in some cases a ‘Stage 2’ audit may be instigated.

A ‘Stage 2’ audit is largely a desktop exercise to review information in more detail.

Where it is considered enhanced support may be appropriate, a ‘Stage 3’ audit may be undertaken, which will involve a competent H&S Officer carrying out a site visit to gather information and view evidence as required.

Audits are proactive tools aimed at providing managers and head teachers with the assurance that they are managing their H&S effectively. Where it is deemed this is not the case, the auditing process will allow any gaps to be identified to allow CHSS to provide the appropriate guidance and support towards implementing effective and robust H&S management systems.

Schools who subscribe to the Enhanced School Service Level Agreement automatically receive a Stage 3 audit annually towards ensuring they have suitable and sufficient H&S management systems in place.

Schools Service Level Agreement

The School H&S SLA has been developed to provide health and safety assistance to Head Teachers and Governors of Maintained Schools, Academies and Non-Maintained Schools in order for them to meet their statutory health and safety responsibilities contained within the City Council’s policies, Arrangements for Managing Health and Safety and Safe Working Procedures as set out in the schools Scheme for Finance.

The School Emergency Preparedness, Response and Business Continuity Service (EPRBC) provides advice to schools to help them respond successfully to different levels of challenge to their operations and reassure parents and governors as to the safety of pupils in the school and provision of this service is also detailed in this document.

Both services offer a core (basic) service and an additional (enhanced) service, which schools can choose to opt into if they wish, including Academy schools and other non-maintained schools.

Either service can be bought into separately if both services are not required.

The H&S Basic service is provided free of charge to maintained schools, who can opt into the Enhanced service if they wish at a cost.

For a copy of the Schools Service Level Agreement for H&S and EPRBC and for further information on the Schools H&S SLA, please contact health.and.safety@southampton.gov.uk.

For further information on the Schools Service Level Agreement for Emergency Preparedness, Response and Business Continuity, please contact jointepdutyofficer@southampton.gov.uk.

Corporate Health and Safety Service

The Corporate Health and Safety Service are a small team who provide guidance and support to managers and head teachers towards ensuring they have adequate health and safety management systems in place and where this is not the case or where further support may be required, they can provide further guidance and information to support managers and head teachers towards achieving robust and effective health and safety.

For further information visit the Corporate Health and Safety pages.

To contact the Corporate Health and Safety Service please email: health.and.safety@southampton.gov.uk.