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H and S for School Leadership eLearning
Online health and safety training for headteachers, senior leaders and governors: what the school is accountable for, what you must be able to evidence, and where personal liability sits.
Who it is for
Who this health and safety for school leadership course is for
In a school, health and safety accountability sits with people whose training is in education, not safety. This course sets out what leaders and governors are actually responsible for, and what an inspector or an insurer will ask to see.
- Headteachers and senior leaders
- School business managers and bursars
- Governors and trustees
- Trust central teams
- Site and premises managers
- Anyone with a health and safety remit in a school
Course content
What the health and safety for school leadership course covers
Six short modules on governance, accountability and the systems a school needs, rather than on the hazards themselves.
Who the employer is
Local authority, academy trust or governing body, and what that means for duties.
Leadership accountability
What leaders and governors are responsible for, and what can be delegated.
The management system
Policy, roles, risk assessment, monitoring and review.
Competence and training
Deciding what training staff need and evidencing that they had it.
Premises and contractors
Buildings, asbestos, water, contractors and capital works.
Incidents and liability
Reporting, investigation, and where individual liability can attach
Outcomes
What you will be able to do afterwards
- Say who the employer is for your school and what follows from it
- Explain what leaders and governors are accountable for
- Describe the elements of a school health and safety management system
- Judge what training staff need and evidence it
- Recognise the premises duties a school carries
- Understand where personal liability can attach to leaders
Your legal duty
The law behind health and safety for school leadership training
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places duties on the employer, and section 3 extends them to people who are not employees: in a school, pupils and visitors. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require risk assessment, competent assistance and training.
Individual liability is real. Where an organisational offence is committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to neglect on the part of, a manager, that person can be prosecuted personally. Who the employer is varies by school type, which is the first thing leaders need to be clear about.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 - sections 2, 3 and 37
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- The employer varies by school type, local authority, trust or governing body
- Premises duties include asbestos management and water safety
Practicalities
How the course works
For employers
Health and Safety for School Leadership training for a team
Leadership teams and governing boards benefit from doing this together, because accountability questions are the ones that fall between them.
- One invoice instead of a card payment per person
- Licences allocated as people join, so induction is covered
- Completion and expiry reporting for your records
- Renewal reminders before certificates lapse
- Bespoke versions built around your own procedures
School business managers who own health and safety substantively usually need a formal qualification. See NEBOSH courses →
H and S for School Leadership eLearning: common questions
It depends on the type of school, local authority, academy trust or governing body. The course covers why that is the first question, because everything else follows from it.
Individual liability can attach where an offence is committed with someone's consent or connivance, or through their neglect. The course covers the principle; specific circumstances warrant proper advice.
No. Schools need access to competent health and safety assistance. This course helps leaders understand what to ask for and how to judge what they are told.
No. Safeguarding is a separate statutory framework with its own training and its own guidance.
About 30 minutes, with no time limit: start it, pause it, and come back whenever suits. The certificate is issued the moment you finish.
Yes. It runs in a browser on any modern phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install.
Yes. Open a business account and we invoice you for the licences, which you allocate as people need them, with completion reporting included.