News Updates

Take a look at what's been happening in the world of education and health and safety since our last issue...

Survey Shows Growing Fears About Safety at Work

A recent online survey, commissioned by A-SAFE, based in West Yorkshire, revealed that almost one in ten workers felt unsafe at work.

2,019 manual and semi-skilled workers, including machine operators, fitters and drivers, were questioned. The findings revealed:

• 37% believe that profits are put before people in terms of ensuring the right health and safety measures are in place where they work;
• 33% say the focus on creating COVID-secure environments has led to the neglect of other health and safety measures; and
• 24% do not think their employer is dedicated to keeping them safe and they do not trust them to protect workers.

RIDDOR and HSE statistics show that at least 136 workers have received fatal injuries in the workplace each year since 2016. One in five of those deaths was a result of a worker being hit by a vehicle.

There are fears that a large number of non-fatal injuries go unreported as management choose not to report these incidents to RIDDOR.

James Smith, co-owner and director of A-SAFE said, “Our survey serves to encourage business leaders to make better decisions and improve workplace standards, and the findings indicate that more needs to be done to tackle some of the industry’s most pressing health and safety challenges. Ultimately, failure to include health and safety as a key business objective can have catastrophic results."

Students Sue School for “Underprovided Education”

A group of 35 architecture and design students have enlisted law firm Harper MacLeod to accuse the Glasgow School of Art of failing to provide adequate tuition during the pandemic.

These students, known collectively as Art School Racket, have criticised the school for limited communication and a lack of access to essential facilities, studio space, materials, specialist software, technical workshops, equipment, and technology.

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched, in which the students state: “We were six months into a 12-month course when the first lockdown happened in March 2020. GSA chose to cancel the remaining seven weeks of the semester, two days after campus closed. We had no contact from our tutors for 10 weeks whilst other universities (like the University of Glasgow) were tutoring students online within a few weeks."

“Online learning replaced our practical arts courses for the final semester. Most of us had no way of making work in our home or bedroom, and GSA simply told us to ‘adapt’. We continued to be charged full tuition fees for studio-based courses with no access to studios and workshops, and charged for seven weeks that were cancelled."

“GSA gave us two options, continue with remote learning or withdraw from the course with no assurance of re-entry in the future."

Over the past year, the students have appealed to their university through the internal complaints procedure asking for a pause option until a safe to return to campus learning is possible and a partial refund of fees, both of which were rejected by GSA.

A selection of former Glasgow School of Art pupil, Alan Dunlop’s drawings will be auctioned next month as part of a fundraising campaign.

Mr Dunlop told Scottish Construction Now: “Donated drawings have now been valued independently by two renowned gallery owners at over £500 each. Bidding starting therefore at £350. Both the Mackintosh Glasgow School of Art drawings are originals and taken from my sketchbooks.”

Teachers "Need Training" to Deliver “Sensitive and Complex” Sex Education

Research shows that staff in four out of five schools have not received training to deliver the new RSHE curriculum.

Although mandatory sex education lessons were introduced in secondary schools in England this academic year, campaigners say that not enough funding has been given to train teachers to deliver the subject effectively. Teachers must now cover issues including consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, harassment and rape, and how these affect relationships as part of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum.

School leaders said it is particularly timely to talk about these subjects after the deaths of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa and the creation of the website Everyone’s Invited.

Children and Young People Now magazine revealed that just 4,800 schools have received training from government schemes to deliver RSHE.

Lucy Emmerson, head of the Sex Education Forum, said the Government must fund proper training for teachers to help them deliver the lessons. She said: “For teachers to facilitate complex discussions does take practice. The resources being spent are not in proportion to the enormity of the job.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said the Government has invested more than £3 million to support staff to teach the new RSHE curriculum.

Woman Has Part of Her Scalp Torn off and Loses an Ear in a Horrific Workplace Accident

A court heard how Anna Mielewczyk, a 25-year-old employee of P&D Engineering Limited based in Coventry, suffered life-changing injuries and had to undergo surgery nine times, which led to the amputation of her ear. The incident happened on September 10 2019.

Ms Mielewczyk said; “I was working by myself and there was a loud crash from one of the machines and turned my head suddenly. My hair must have got caught in one of the drills as it started to pull my head quite fiercely. I tried to yank my hair out of the drill by grabbing my ponytail in desperation and panic, but the machine was going so fast there was nothing I could do to resist it.”

P&D Engineering Limited, based in Coventry, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined £62,334 and ordered to pay costs of £1,459.90.

Commenting on the decision, Anna said: “My life has been devastated by what happened to me, yet my employer can get away with a fine of £62,000. How is that justice?"

An investigation by Health and Safety officials found that the rotating parts of the drill were not guarded in accordance with standard industry practice. It also found that the company's own risk assessment for using the drill, identified a guard should be fitted but had operated without one for a number of years.

Ben Posford, of Osbornes Law who represented Anna, said: “Anna has suffered the most horrific injuries and is lucky to have survived this terrible incident, all because her employer did not have the correct health and safety procedures in place. My client is understandably upset that her former employer was given such a negligible fine and we will be pursuing them through the courts to get her some semblance of justice.”

Shortage of Psychologists Hits SEN Pupils

Local authorities in England are struggling to complete SEN assessments in the statutory timeframe because of a lack of psychologists.

Education, health and care plans (EHCPs) set out the extra provision that children with high special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are legally entitled to. To decide whether to provide an EHCP, and what should go into it, councils must carry out an assessment, sourcing advice and information from an educational psychologist. The result is likely to be that children with conditions such as autism, will start the new school year without the necessary support in place.

Anntoinette Bramble, of the Local Government Association, said: “Since the extension of the eligibility for SEND support in 2014, councils have seen a near 50% rise in children and young people with education, health and care plans, with more than 130 children and young people starting support plans with their council every day. This has not been accompanied by an adequate increase in funding. Many councils are finding they’re struggling to recruit and retain staff like educational psychologists, when they can find more favourable salaries via other employers, including the NHS.”

She added; “Over the last year, educational psychology staff have retired, been on maternity leave or have moved into new roles and despite three ambitious recruitment campaigns, we have been unable to recruit to the various posts. The Department for Education has been monitoring educational psychology capacity during the pandemic and the current data identifies that 70% of local authorities are operating with reduced educational psychology capacity.”

David Collingwood, president of the Association of Educational Psychologists, said the figure is “probably accurate, given the number of advertisements we carry.” He went on to add: “Educational psychology assessments are usually crucial in developing a comprehensive EHCP so any delay in [their] advice matters. Some authorities have had to outsource a large number of statutory assessments; others are working a long way behind statutory schedules.”

Anntoinette Bramble concluded: “The government need to urgently conclude their long-awaited review into SEND support and ensure it works effectively for everyone. This should be accompanied by sufficient long-term funding in the spending review later this year so councils and their partners can give the support to children and young people with special educational needs they deserve.”

The Department for Education said that the 70% figure (quoted by North Yorkshire) was from earlier this year and does not reflect the current situation, but would not provide an updated figure, describing it as unpublished internal analysis.

Health and Safety Detriment Protection Updated

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Protection from Detriment in Health and Safety Cases) (Amendment) Order 2021 came into force on 31st May 2021. From that date, all ‘workers’ (including freelance and contractors) gained the right not to be subjected to detrimental treatment for leaving or refusing to return to work if they believe themselves to be in ‘serious and imminent danger’. Previously the right under s44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 only applied to employees.

The HSE state that "A 'limb (b) worker' can be understood as a 'dependent contractor'. A 'worker' is registered as self-employed but provides a service as part of someone else's business. They generally must carry out the work personally, rather than being able to send someone in their place."

A 2020 decision reached as the result of the case between Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWUGB) and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has led to this new amendment.

The IWUGB has approximately 5,000 members, most of which are low-paid workers in the ‘gig economy’ and who are classed as limb (b) workers in the UK but not employees.

Members of the IWUGB had raised concerns about not being provided with sufficient PPE by their employers. They also lack the COVID-related protection afforded to employees including the right to stop work when faced with serious and imminent danger at work (Employment Rights Act 1996. s 44 and 100).

Employment Solicitor Chris Dobbs said: “This change has been anticipated since the High Court ruling in November 2020 which led to it being implemented. Employers should already be mindful of their health and safety obligations for employees and, of course, the risk of personal injury claims regardless of employment status. For those sectors with predominantly a ‘worker’ staffing, however, it is a good opportunity to review practices to ensure the risk of a claim is kept to a minimum.”