Schools and colleges are responsible for arranging placements and introducing students to general health and safety issues at work. They also have a general duty of care towards students on placements, and organisers of work experience placements have particular responsibilities under health and safety legislation to place students in a healthy and safe environment. The provisions of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) apply to students on work experience. Where an accident occurs on the premises of a work experience provider, the responsibility for reporting it and informing the school lies with the provider.
For school teachers, the qualified teacher status standards already require all newly qualified teachers to manage teaching and learning safely and effectively. In further education it would be expected that as part of their training and education in their own specialism, teachers will have health and safety awareness and knowledge of appropriate procedures specific to their area of vocational expertise. In both sectors they must also be aware of, and work within the statutory frameworks relating to teachers’ responsibilities, and these frameworks include those relating to safety.
There are no current plans to introduce specific mandatory training on vocational training accident reporting procedures as part of core ITT qualifications in either the schools or further education sectors.