I had an email today from Mark Hewlett (AdEd Head of Quality Improvement and Contracting) which shared a link to an incident report which made me shudder.
As the original email, forwarded by Mark, said:
"I’ve not sent this out to you all to shock or upset but more to highlight the fact that this case proves that even when the task/activity appears to be straight forward, the lack of awareness and Risk Assessment has resulted in horrific injuries.
This was a simple classroom activity which should have been fun and enjoyable but the outcome so avoidable!
It may be worth sharing with those in your organisations (in particular large organisations like colleges where classroom activities are so varied) who doubt the need for health and safety, the appreciation of the importance of Risk Assessments, the need to communicate these risks to those who need to know and the potential consequences of failing to tell Learners! It may be an eye opener to them?"
Read the report yourself here
Thoughts and comments would be welcome.
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6 comments:
Firstly, there is some problem in the link. To, read the reports at the end of this post.
Secondly, i fully support proper health and safety measures to be taken care of in colleges and schools.
I am also keen to read details - but there is a problem with the link - can it be fixed as it sound important to read full details?
My apologies about the broken link which I've now repaired.
I have now read the link - thanks - I did read of this incident in the paper and was interested to read this factual summary. Over the years I have used Plaster of Paris a lot in a teaching situation - but never to cast parts of the body. Health and Safety guidelines come when purchasing Plaster of Paris, but it is clear potential hazzards need to be highlighted more clearly. I hope this terrible incident won't lead to the material being banned in an educational setting, as it is a fabulous material for casting textures and making moulds for ceramic work. It would be good for well considered risk assessment be shared with other tutors.
I felt it was worth sharing because it highlighted the need for tutors to share safety advice with learners regarding the tools and media they are using in the classroom. It's not enough to simply do a risk assessment; that risk assessment and any advice arising from it needs to be shared with everyone in the session and followed through to ensure it's understood.
Gill - thank you so much for posting this article. A dreadful example of how learners thought that they had the right information about "How to do something" but in fact did not have the "How to do something SAFELY message"
I was delighted to meet so many tutors at the RARPA event last week at the Rugby club so hopefully there are a few more of you reading this who can now put a face to the person who co ordinates the observation and support process for Ad Ed tutors!
So many times when out observing I am given a file with a Risk assessment correctly filled in and on the surface of it one might think, "great he/she knows what they are doing" HOwever, it is then the questioning of the learners that might then lead me to a judgement thereafter of: " Lack of undertanding of the risk assessment process by the tutor puts the learner at risk"
As Sarah and Gill so rightly point out here , it is the proces of Risk assessment that keeps learners safe and NOT the filling in of forms!
So please tutors fill the forms in by all means but then think about how you then share that information with your learners. perhaps use of some of the interactive technology that was showcased at the Rugby club might be a way forward?
jacquie
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