Herts Careers services
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FAQ subjects on this page:
Definition Roles and Responsibilities Organising the Placement Timing of Work Experience Cross Country and Abroad Parents Monitoring Travel to Work Experience Reporting of Accidents Risk Assessment Students Attending FE Colleges Further Information
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Work Experience and Health and Safety FAQ’s

This guidance replaces all previous and existing documents, produced by HCC or work experience providers on their behalf. It is is primarily intended for schools and ESC’s however much of its content would be equally applicable in other sectors e.g. FE colleges, alternative providers and WBL providers.
 
These questions and answers link to elements of the National Quality Standard for Work Experience, DCSF 2008.

Q: What is the definition of work experience?

A: The DCSF defines work experience as ‘a placement on employers’ premises in which a learner carries out a particular task or duty, or range of tasks or duties, more or less as would an employee, but with the emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience.’ 
This would include:

• Extended work experience placements i.e. experience or placement occurring frequently over a period of weeks and equivalent to more than 15 days in total;
• Block work experience placements i.e. over 5, 10, or 15 days consecutively;
• 50 days of work placement as a requirement of the Young Apprenticeship programme;
• 10 days work experience as part of the Diploma programme.

Creative ways of ‘experiencing work’ are being designed by the Education Business Partnership Organisations (EBPOs) to support the all aspects of the curriculum with a focus on research and projects.  If the experience is a placement on employers’ premises as defined above the guidance given below should be applied.

This guidance does not cover other work-related learning activities such as enterprise activities, work shadowing and voluntary work in the community, although the school / ESC still retain a duty of care for such activities.

Q: Is part-time work governed by the same legal requirements as school-endorsed activities?

A: The simple answer to this is ‘no’ as you do not have duty of care for part-time work.

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Q: Who is responsible for the health and safety of work experience? 

A: All partners involved in the work experience placement have responsibilities to ensure learners are not exposed to significant risks to their health and safety. Details of specific H&S responsibilities are available on the HSE website:

• www.hse.gov.uk/youngpeople/workexperience/index.htm

• The host employer (placement provider)

Learners on work experience placements with an employer are regarded in health and safety law as their employees.

• The placement organiser

This could be the educational establishment or an external placement organiser (EBPO) e.g. Herts Career Services (HCS) or Herts Chamber of Commerce.

• The school, college , ESC

The education establishment where the learner is on roll (and thus the head teacher) retains a duty of care during the placement. They will also have additional responsibilities where they are the employer or when acting as the placement organiser.

In HCC schools the LA is the employer for Community, Voluntary controlled, special schools and ESCs and is thus ultimately responsible. However headteachers have a duty to ensure that the County Council’s policy and procedures for work placements are implemented.
(For Foundation, Voluntary aided and Academy schools, the Governing body or trustees would be regarded as the employer and thus responsible)

For further information on responsibilities and powers go to:

• www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/healthandsafety/responsibilities/

A guide to the law for Governors can be found at:

• www.governornet.co.uk/

Q: What are the school’s responsibilities with regard to the policy for safe implementation of work experience?

A: Each education establishment should have:

• A work experience policy (often integrated into the careers education/work-related learning policy) that is part of the development plan and regularly reviewed and updated;
• A committed senior manager who understands the legal and moral duties in relation to work experience;
• Governors who are committed to work experience and understand their liabilities;
• Dedicated resources in terms of staff time and budget allocation;
• Service level agreements with any placement organisers external to the school/college who are providing placements.

Q: Are the requirements different for 14-16 and 16+?

A: Health and safety law defines all those under 18 as a young person and therefore at potentially increased risk in a workplace environment due to their lack of experience and maturity. Therefore the same protocols should be adopted for all learners as far as Health and Safety is concerned.
For learners with learning difficulties and disabilities (LLDD) up to the age of 25 additional safeguards may be identified and thus placements should be considered and risk assessed on an individual basis.

Q: What recommendations would the county want to see in preparing the young people to be responsible for their health and safety whilst in the workplace?

A: Schools should brief students before taking part in work experience on: -

• supervision arrangements and health and safety responsibilities;
• arrangements for placement visits;
• arrangements for debriefing, assessment and recording.

These briefings should be recorded.

Schools must make suitable arrangements to visit/monitor students as the school retains a duty of care for the student during the placement.

Schools must ensure that emergency contact arrangements are in place (including out of school hours provision) in order that a member of school staff can be contacted should an incident occur. 
HCC is recommending all young people obtain a health and safety award. The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has developed a workplace hazards awareness course (WHAC) for year 10 students. Wiseup2work is designed to help teenagers learn the health and safety basics and to develop the right attitude to safety.  The British Safety Council also offer awards.
Log on to www.wiseup2work.co.uk/office.html to register your school for the new course. The course leads to an entry level award in workplace hazard awareness (entry 3).

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Q: Which placement organiser can we use to undertake the health and safety checks for work experience?

A: It is strongly recommended that either HCS or Herts Chamber of Commerce are used to conduct pre-employment checks of employers. These are the LA’s ‘preferred’ suppliers and are regarded as competent for assessing the suitability of placements.

The LA evaluates the effectiveness of these arrangements and assures that the documentation, continuous training of staff, their level of competence and updating of qualifications complies with H&S law and the governments quality standards.

Q: Who quality assures the organisations undertaking health and safety checks for work experience?
A: The LA is responsible for quality assurance of any work experience that has been funded through its contracts e.g. Young Apprenticeship, block placements at KS4, Diploma placements. This quality assurance is undertaken by the Education Health and Safety team.

Q: Who is competent to assess the placement?

A: The LA in order to meet its legal duties toward learners that are placed on work experience, expects that the placement organiser can evidence their competence, both in the occupational areas and in health and safety.

Competent staff should as a minimum hold underpinning H&S knowledge.  This may be demonstrated by the possession of the following nationally accredited/recognised qualifications:

• IOSH (The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) Managing Safely qualification, 

IOSH Health and Safety for Work-placement Personnel course or HSS8 (Formerly ENTO Unit D) Review Health and Safety Procedures in Workplaces - specifically designed for people required to review health and safety conditions in workplaces other than their own.

• www.entodirect.co.uk/learning_programmes/hss8.php

We also expect occupational competence, knowledge and understanding in relation to sector specific placements. Particularly in high risk placements such as construction, agriculture, equestrian etc.

Best practice suggests that placement organisers should also have access to a person with CMIOSH / NEBOSH higher level qualification (Diploma) or equivalent.

In addition placement organisers may have obtained other national quality awards in recognition of best practice in delivery of placements.  These would include:

The CEI National Standard Award for Work Experience organisers or

The Award for Education Business Excellence (expected to become compulsory for all EBPOs from 2011)

Q: What happens if we choose to use other organisations or our own staff to undertake the health and safety checks for us?

A: Where schools choose not to use the LA’s preferred suppliers. pre-placement health and safety assessments of employers must be carried out by competent people (see above), utilising equivalent documented checks. 
Placements must not begin until confirmation has been received that the following have been obtained:

• Evidence of relevant qualifications, continuous professional development and updating of knowledge and occupational competency.
• Copies of documentation used when assessing a placement.

These will be benchmarked by the Education Health and Safety Team against the level at which our preferred suppliers are operating.

Q: What do we understand by a health and safety visit?

A: The placement visitor will review the culture and management practices, attitudes to young people, negotiate appropriate tasks and assess the suitability of the organisation to host the placement for young people. Reasonable assumptions are being made about the level of maturity of the young people throughout this process to ensure that they can safely engage in activities appropriate to their ability and that effective levels of supervision are in place.

Q: Can employers used for KS4 placements be used for Post-16 learners?

A: Never assume that a placement has a valid health and safety assessment without checking this out.  An ongoing and planned programme of health and safety visits picks up those employers due for rechecking and at the time your learners are on a placement you need to confident that the employer they are with is still covered.  Failing to do so could compromise both the learner and  your school.

Each visit is carried out on the basis of activities to be undertaken during the placement which will be linked to the ability and maturity of the learners.  Year 10 learners and post-16 learners are unlikely to be undertaking the same level of activities.  Post-16 learners should be involved in higher level tasks. You could be compromising the learner’s safety by not admitting that you are transferring placements from one key stage to another.

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Q: What hours can learners work while on work experience?

A: The number of hours worked and the pattern of work is normally a matter for agreement by the employer, school and students. Students on work experience placements should not be asked to work excessively long hours or unnecessarily unsocial hours. Students should not work for more than five days in any consecutive seven day period and it is strongly recommended that students should not be asked to work more than a standard eight-hour day.

Q: Can I send students out on work experience during the school holidays e.g. during the summer break?

A: At all times you need to ensure that you are taking all reasonable care to ensure the safety of your students. 

You therefore need to answer the following questions and only proceed with this arrangement if the answer is ‘yes’ to each one.

• Is there a dedicated emergency contact number with a person from the school at the end of the phone for the duration of the placement if needed?
• Is there someone from the school who knows the young person and is appropriate in terms of monitoring the students’ progress available to visit them at the placement?
• Does the school’s insurance policy cover young people during the holiday periods?
• Has the parent or carer given consent to the young person undertaking the placement during the holiday time and have they consented to the job description and seen the young person’s risk assessment?

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Q: What are the implications for learners in Herts accessing placements in our border counties?

A: The network of East of England Work Experience providers have a cross-border arrangement regarding health and safety checks so young people can be placed in neighbouring counties.  This group have agreed standardised documentation.  The placement organiser will liaise with their counterparts and arrange for the checks to be done.

Out of county placements can go ahead on the approval of the headteacher provided that:

• Pre-placement health and safety assessments of employers are carried out by competent people (see section C)
• Accommodation arrangements (where applicable) are suitable;
• The school undertakes detailed preparation with the student pre-placement and has arrangements in place to monitor and support the student.

Q: Can I send young people abroad for their work experience?

A: If work experience is to take place outside of the UK, it would be advisable to restrict it to students over the age of 16.

This does not come under part of the core contract for our preferred organisations undertaking health and safety checks. Therefore the LA is unable to guarantee that a competent person is auditing health and safety.

This type of arrangement may come under the terms and conditions of exchange visits. Accommodation arrangements during the placement must be suitable and the placement approved by the headteacher.

Schools wishing to offer placements abroad should contact the Offsite Visits Adviser or Education H&S Team in the first instance.

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Q: What checks should be in place for private placements e.g. those found by a parent?
A: A duty of care rests with the school to ensure the placement is appropriate, thus parental placements still need to be subject to the same standard of pre-placement checks as with other employers.

H&S checks must still be carried out by qualified and competent people and supporting documentation completed.

Q:What happens if such placements are not approved?

A: We want to ensure that all learners are undertaking placements in a safe and appropriate working environment therefore no work experience placement should go ahead if deemed unsuitable by a placement organiser.

Q: Why is it important to get parents’ consent for a specific placement to be undertaken?

A: Every learner should receive a placement job description from their learning organisation highlighting the tasks to be undertaken and the necessary health and safety information (including the risk assessment for the placement).  It will also cover hours of work, dress code and provide contact details and the employers address, this should be passed onto parents for signature as part of the process for gaining consent in order they have full knowledge of what the young person will be doing and where. General consent forms do not replace this requirement.

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Q: Why should learners’ be visited while they are on their placement?

A: Again, as part of fulfilling your duty of care, a school, ESC or college needs to demonstrate all reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure that your learners are safe, being appropriately supervised and undertaking tasks as outlined in the job description you have given them.  The only way to check this out is to see first-hand.

A phone call is better than nothing and the minimum requirement is that you ring both the young person and the employer independently to check that both parties are happy and that they are benefiting from the experience. The phone call should be during the initial days of the placement.

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Q: Who is responsible for the travel arrangements?

A: Travel to work placements from home are the responsibility of the learner. Any journey which starts from school (e.g. a group visit) is the responsibility of the school. 

However explaining the need for safety when travelling to and from the placement and highlighting relevant hazards should be an important part of the work experience preparation briefing for the learner.  Schools should assess whether each young person can travel safely and would need to demonstrate such risks have been considered.

Employers are responsible for travel between locations if this is within the nature of the job. The need for such travel and adequate insurance cover would form part of the health and safety checks for the placement.

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Q: What should you do in the event of an accident?

A: Where work experience students are on a school roll, accidents must be reported by the employer to the school. As a school your first priority is the well being of the young person and communicating with parents and carers who should be notified immediately if treatment is required beyond a minor injury.
Schools must report all incidents involving students on work placement activities to the placement organiser at the earliest possible opportunity. Where the LA’s ‘preferred’ suppliers are used (HCS and Chamber of Commerce) these will then be forwarded to the Education H&S Team.

Schools who have organised their own placements must report all incidents involving students on work placements to the Education H&S Team in line with HCC’s incident reporting procedures.

Q: In the case of an accident who do the HSE approach?

A: The HSE (The Health and Safety Executive) will initially focus on the employer during any investigation as they have the responsibility under RIDDOR to report accidents.

The placement organiser will inform the LA of any that result in hospital treatment and liaise with HCC for any further investigations.

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Q: What is risk assessment?

A: A risk assessment is simply the identification of what in the work placement could cause harm to the learner and ensuring appropriate control measures are in place to reduce these risks to as low a level as possible (whilst retaining the value of the work experience for the learner).

Q: Who is responsible for risk assessment?

A: Each individual employer has the responsibility for conducting a risk assessment and ensuring that risks to all learners must be assessed before they start work. For children of compulsory school age parents/ carers must be informed of the key findings of this assessment and control measures taken.

The risk assessment must take into account specific factors such as immaturity, inexperience and lack of awareness, and medical conditions, physical and learning disabilities of the learner.

Any relevant information relating to an individual learner (health, learning or language difficulties etc.) must be provided by the school to the placement organiser and employer in order for job descriptions/risk assessments/supervision etc to be adjusted accordingly.

External organisations (e.g. HCS) do not have a duty to say whether the employer’s risk assessment is suitable or sufficient

Q: What is the schools role in this risk assessment?

A: Schools need to ensure that placement organisers and employers are provided with all relevant information about the learners, for example relating to health, learning or language difficulties or other factors which might affect their ability to understand and respond to information and instructions about health and safety at work.

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Q: What are the schools responsibilities for students attending FE colleges?

A: The school and college must establish clear arrangements for supervision and management of students on college premises. Such arrangements are similar to those outlined above and should cover areas such as:

• Supervision and monitoring ( during teaching time and breaks / free periods)
• Reporting attendance
• Arrangements for students with disabilities or specific medical requirements
• Safeguarding
• Travel between school and college
• Name and contact details of school / college representatives
• Parental consent
• Sharing relevant risk assessments with students and parents/guardians
• Arrangements for any visits, work placements or other off site activities forming part of the programme

Where work placements form part of the vocational qualification offered by a FE college then the college is responsible for ensuring placement checks are conducted, these should be to the same standards and conducted by suitably qualified and competent people as set out in section C.

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Who to contact for help and advice:

James Ottery,
Health and Safety (Education) Team Manager
Email james.ottery@hertscc.gov.uk.

Mary Hurlstone
14 – 19 Strategy Adviser, Strategy and Commissioning
Email mary.hurlstone.hertscc.gov.uk

Quality standard for Work Experience

• www.dcsf.gov.uk/14-19/documents/Quality%20Standard%20for%20Work%20Experience.pdf (pdf)

14-19 reform
Work related Learning guide – Second Edition
National Standard for EBPOs

• www.dcsf.gov.uk/14-19

HSE
Young People at work:

• www.hse.gov.uk/youngpeople/index.htm

Teachernet
Guidance on work experience

• www.teachernet.gov.uk

Glossary

                                                                                                                                                           
CEI                 Centre for Education and Industry

EBPOs          Education Business Provider Organisations

ENTO             ENTO is the learning network for assessors and verifiers. It is responsible for developing the national occupational health and safety competency standards (www.ento.co.uk).

HSE                The Health and Safety Executive is a government agency responsible for the regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising from work activity in Britain. Its job is to help ensure that risks to people's health and safety from work activities are properly controlled (www.hse.gov.uk)

IOSH              The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Its members are people with a professional involvement or interest in occupational health and safety (www.iosh.co.uk).

NEBOSH       National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health

RIDDOR        Reporting of incidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995

July 2010