Health and Safety

With employees becoming "workers" and employers now "persons conducting a business or undertaking" (PCBUs) I have received a lot of questions about the new Health and Safety at Work Act:

Frequently Asked Questions

Q Am I now liable for accidents/incidents that happen in my teaching area?

A No more than you have been since HSE 1992, and only when you have been negligent or failed in a duty of care so no change

Q Does this mean the end of Education Outside the classroom (EOTC)?

A The intent is not to curtail any EOTC, what it means is that qualifications/experience etc are current for staff who run trips and external providers need to be consulted and have their qualifications etc confirmed. You should have been doing this anyway so no change.

Q Will we have to close access to school facilities after hours?

A No, the requirement is for the facilities to be fit for purpose at all times, if the facilities are safe during the day, then public use outside of school hours is fine. Case law has prosecuted boards when facilities have been deficient causing serious harm or death outside of school hours but this should have no effect on staff, it is a board issue.

Q What about school pools and access?

A Provided that the pool is properly fenced and locked when not in authorised use, processes are in place for supervised out of hours use and these processes are signposted then there are no issues. The school cannot be held responsible if someone scales a fence with a locked gate and harms themselves in unauthorised use of a pool (or any other facility).
There is no liability for anyone on site for illegal purposes.

Q Am I personally liable for Health and Safety of my outdoor education classes?

A No it is the duty of the board to ensure the safety of all workers and others ( this is where students fall under the new Act) this would include practices and processes for staff to follow that ensure Health and Safety for all in its care, however if the policies and processes are ignored then the liability may fall on the teacher.
This has been the case previously, no change.

Q Do I need to have risk analysis and managment systems (RAMs) for all experiments that I do every time I do them?

A No, they should have been verified before they go into the management doc/scheme/planner or whatever you call your existing planning programme. This is best practice and should be currently being done so no change.

Q Should we let kids climb trees?

A Do you let them already? Yes then no change. It has to be contextual, 50m tall Norfolk Pine probably not, 6m Apple tree probably, just apply common sense.

Q Will I need to close or limit my hard materials workshop classes?

A If you have sound teaching practice regarding machinery use then there is nothing to worry about. It may be advisable to update your record keeping of when and how you have approved students to use certain machines. It would pay to have a record of what machines were demonstrated and the safe use of them and when this took place.

Q Am I now financially liable for incidents?

A No you are not suddenly now liable. You have been liable since the 1992 Health and safety in Employment Act introduced 3 tiers of fine with a maximum of $500k for death or serious harm, interestingly nobody batted an eyelid at this figure which is now inflation adjusted to $808k but now the $600k has been announced everyone is up in arms and talking houses in trust etc. Nobody in the Education sector has been prosecuted since the 1992 Act was introduced and unless you are negligent and fail in your duty of care leading to serious harm or death then nobody will be fined this amount in the education sector. This has been the case previously so no change.

Q What responsibilities as a Teacher do I now have?

A Teachers must:

Take reasonable care for their health and safety

Take reasonable care that their behaviour does not adversely affect the health and safety of others

Report any incident, risk or hazard to an officer or health and safety representative

Comply with any reasonable instruction form the PCBU* (Board) to allow the PCBU to comply with the Act

Cooperate with the PCBU’s health and safety policies or procedures inform visitors etc of any known hazards or risks in the workplace (*A PCBU is a ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’. )

Q What is the role of a Health and Safety Rep?

A A Health and Safety Representative (HSR) performs a number of functions including:

Representing school workers generally on health and safety matters

Investigating complaints from school workers about health and safety issues at the school

Representing a school worker on a specific health and safety matter (including a complaint) if asked to do so by that worker

Monitoring health and safety measures taken by the Board of Trustees and providing feedback to the Board about health and safety compliance

Inquiring into anything that appears to be a health and safety risk to school workers arising from the activities of the school and making recommendations to the Board of Trustees on work health and safety

Promoting the interests of school workers who have been harmed at work, including arrangements for rehabilitation and return to work

Issuing provisional improvement notices in the school workplace

Being able to direct workgroup members (school workers the HSR represents) to cease work.

Q What is the role of a Health and Safety Committee?

A A Health and Safety Committee:

Facilitates co-operation between the Board of Trustees and school workers in instigating, developing, and carrying out measures designed to ensure the school workers’ health and safety at work

Assists in developing any standards, rules, policies, or procedures relating to health and safety that are to be followed or complied with at the school

Makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees about work health and safety.

Q How many Health and Safety reps (HSRs) may we have?

A The prescribed minimum ratio of HSRs for a work group is 1 representative for every 19 workers. If the number of workers divided by 19 does not equal a whole number, the number of health and safety representatives to be elected is increased to the next whole number. e.g. 10 workers = 1 HSR, 23 workers = 2 HSRs

Q How do we get the Health and Safety reps?

A Any 1 worker may request elections for Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) or the PCBU may decide to call for elections (regulations apply as to how this happens)

Q How do we get a Health and Safety Committee?

A Any 5 workers or 1 HSR may call for formation of a Health and Safety Committee (HSC) or the PCBU may decide to appoint one (regulations apply as to how this happens)

Any other questions email hands@ppta.org.nz

Schools with buildings assessed as an earthquake risk: Guidelines for PPTA members

Schools are being identified as having buildings which are unsafe in the event of an earthquake

The Ministry of Education, school boards and local government authorities have been more actively assessing the earthquake risk of school buildings throughout New Zealand.

This has resulted in school buildings being deemed unsafe for staff and students. At 9 July 2011 23 primary and secondary schools in the Wellington region alone were identified as having buildings assessed as unsafe in an earthquake. More schools are likely to be identified as these assessements continue.

PPTA Branches/members should email details of new school building earthquake assessments or related concerns to earthquake@ppta.org.nz. PPTA will use the information to assist members and branches.

Requirements for alternative classroom spaces when buildings have been assessed as an earthquake risk

The first priority must be the health and safety of staff and students.

The branch/member must respect any assessment by a registered engineer and work actively with management to source alternative classroom space and ensure that any new classrooms are fit for their subject/purpose.

Spaces must be 'fit for purpose'

The school's health and safety representative has an important role in assessing new classroom space for current and potential hazards, e.g. ensuring a temporary classroom for chemistry lessons has appropriate ventilation and equipment. Trained health and safety representatives have the ability to issue formal notices if an employer fails to take all practical steps to isolate and minimise hazards.

Consultation must take place regarding timetables for the use of alternative spaces

Clause 5.1A of the Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement (STCA) requires consultation around a school's timetable policy. This will be useful if management propose members move into unsuitable teaching space, e.g. to teach hard and soft materials in a prefabricated classroom with carpet and limited power points. Clause 5.1A is a reminder that boards and management must consult with teachers over timetable matters.

Teachers teach. Removal specialists relocate classroom equipment and resources.

Members are employed as teachers to deliver the national curriculum and undertake pastoral care duties. They are not employed as removal specialists for furniture, equipment and resources.

Checklist for earthquake-prone buildings and requests to relocate

The attached checklist is an easy to use tool if faced with classroom closure or a request to relocate. The board and school management can also use the checklist to assess decision making processes around classroom closures.

PPTA field officers can advocate for branches if there are industrial issues as a result of classroom closure or temporary relocation.

When is a school building safe? How do you know?

Design standards for buildings in earthquakes were first introduced into New Zealand in 1935 following the Napier earthquake. Around 1965, three different earthquake zones were identified reflecting the growing knowledge of the different seismicity of various parts of New Zealand.

The Building Act 2004 requires councils to establish an Earthquake Prone Building (EPB) register, to notify owners and set timeframes for action to strengthen or vacate. Buildings with less than one third of the strength of a new building have about 10 to 20 times the risk of serious damage or collapse when compared to a new building.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) property manual guidelines say their buildings must be built to 100% of the standard. IPENZ (Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand) recommends 67% as a minimum.

An EPB is 33% or less than the New Building Standard (NBS). The NBS was revised in 2004 from the original 1991 standard. At 33% or less of the NBS,
an EPB is deemed likely to suffer collapse causing bodily injury or death to persons in the building in a moderate earthquake.

What is a moderate earthquake?

The legal definition is: "In relation to a building, an earthquake that would generate shaking at the site of the building that is of the same duration as, but that is one-third as strong as, the earthquake shaking (determined by normal measures of acceleration, velocity and displacement) that would be used to design a new building at the site."

Who is responsible? Councils, the Ministry of Education, Boards of Trustees?

The Act requires each territorial authority (councils) to have a policy on earthquake buildings but allows them to decide on the approach, priorities and timetable to be followed. By 2006 local authorities were to have developed and adopted a policy regarding local buildings most vulnerable in a moderate earthquake and ensure a balance between earthquake risk and social and economic implications of implementing the policy.

Councils use an Independent Evaluation Procedure (IEP) to determine structural performance before they contact the owners of buildings designated less than 33% of code. Wellington is further ahead than most councils but Crown owned buildings do not appear on the Wellington City Council EPB website list.
State school buildings in New Zealand are owned by the MoE. Some integrated schools have their buildings owned by churches. The MoE initiated a review of school buildings across the country in1998 and spent some money on remediation of buildings. The results of the reviews are held in the local MoE regional offices. Apparently not all reviews have been completed. It is unclear but likely that there are few situations where buildings with high occupancy are below 17%.

We know Golden Bay High School had notice of their building rating at just at 3% which led to a swift evacuation. Wellington East Girls' College's building came in at 17%. Apparently at under 10% the MoEy will advise evacuation but this is not certain. Otherwise the decision is left to Boards of Trustees to manage on the advice of engineers' reports from the MoE.

Not all Boards may have received reports if they are held in regional MoE offices. BOTs have the responsibility under section 16 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act to make sure that all practical steps are taken to ensure that no hazard harms people at the school. Failure to comply with the Act has serious consequences.

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