Short answer

  • In Great Britain, the Health and Safety Executive, usually called HSE, is the national regulator for workplace health and safety. In relation to schools, HSE provides guidance, inspects and investigates where appropriate, and enforces workplace health and safety law. It does not run a school, manage its day to day safety arrangements, or take over the legal accountability of the school employer. That accountability stays with the employer, even when day to day tasks are delegated to school leaders and staff. This article explains that division in general terms only. It is not advice for a particular school, pupil, employee, or incident, and it is not legal advice.

Jurisdiction note

This article is about Great Britain, meaning England, Scotland, and Wales. HSE is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, as described by GOV.UK. Northern Ireland has a separate regulator, so readers should not assume that the arrangements described here apply in Northern Ireland. The article also does not describe the system in the United States, where school health and safety oversight works differently and where there is no body with the same name and role as HSE in Great Britain.

What HSE is

HSE is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions, according to GOV.UK. Its broad purpose is to prevent work-related death, injury, and ill health. That purpose matters for schools because a school is also a workplace. Staff work there, contractors carry out work there, and pupils, visitors, and volunteers may be affected by work activities carried out by the school.

HSE has three broad functions. It produces guidance that helps employers understand what the law requires in practice. It inspects workplaces and investigates incidents and concerns within its remit. Where it finds a breach of health and safety law, it can take enforcement action. Those functions are not the same as running a school, employing its staff, or deciding its curriculum.

HSE also works alongside other bodies. GOV.UK states that HSE, with local authorities, enforces the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The split of enforcing authority depends on the sector, premises, and activity involved. For school trips, HSE guidance explains that HSE is the enforcing authority for sites run by educational providers, including centers run by local authorities, while local authorities are the enforcing authority for other providers such as commercial multi-activity centers. The relevant enforcing authority can therefore depend on the specific activity, even though HSE is the body most often associated with school health and safety in Great Britain.

The central law is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. In general terms, it places duties on employers to protect the health, safety, and welfare of employees so far as is reasonably practicable, and duties in relation to people other than employees who may be affected by work activities. In a school, that second group can include pupils, visitors, and volunteers. Employees also have duties, including taking reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their work, cooperating with their employer, and following training and instructions.

The Act is supported by regulations that make its general requirements more specific. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks and put measures in place to control significant risks. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, usually called RIDDOR, deal with recording and reporting certain work-related injuries, diseases, and dangerous occurrences. GOV.UK school guidance cites the 2013 version of RIDDOR, and HSE school guidance points readers to its education information sheet on incident reporting in schools for detail.

“Reasonably practicable” is a key phrase. HSE school guidance explains sensible management as balancing the level of risk against the money, time, and trouble needed to control the real risk. Action that would be grossly disproportionate to the level of risk is not required by that test. The aim is not to remove every possible risk. It is to focus on real risks with the potential to cause harm, and to manage those risks proportionately.

Who is accountable in a school

HSE guidance states the starting point clearly: legal responsibility and accountability for health and safety in a school lie with the employer. Who the employer is depends on the type of school, and there are differences across England, Scotland, and Wales.

In England and Wales, HSE guidance lists the local authority as the employer for community schools, community special schools, voluntary controlled schools, maintained nursery schools, and pupil referral units. The governing body is listed as the employer for foundation schools, foundation special schools, and voluntary aided schools. For independent schools, the employer is the governing body or proprietor. In England, the Academy Trust is listed as the employer for academies and free schools. In Scotland, the local authority is listed as the employer for state schools funded through Scottish local authorities, while the proprietor, board of trustees, or equivalent is listed for independent private or fee-paying schools, and the governing body or equivalent is listed for grant aided schools.

That does not mean only the employer does anything. GOV.UK guidance states that day to day running is usually delegated to the headteacher and the school management team, who in most cases are responsible for ensuring that risks are managed effectively. HSE guidance adds that health and safety functions, but not accountability, can be delegated to staff within the school to carry out responsibilities on behalf of the employer. A headteacher or staff member can be given a task, but that does not transfer the employer’s overall legal accountability.

Schools must also appoint a competent person to help meet their health and safety duties. That person must have the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to give sensible guidance about managing risks at the school. Help can come from the employer, from staff, or from outside support arranged by the employer. Getting advice does not remove the employer’s duties.

Funding arrangements can add complexity. In England and Wales, local authorities provide a delegated budget to maintained schools. HSE guidance explains that for community schools and voluntary controlled schools, the local authority remains the employer and retains legal responsibility, even when budgets are delegated. Local authorities should make clear which functions are delegated and which are carried out centrally.

What HSE does in relation to schools

HSE guidance for schools covers topics such as sensible leadership, risk assessment, slips and trips, vehicle movements, science, sport, school trips, and asbestos. That guidance helps schools interpret the law for their own setting. It does not mean HSE carries out those tasks inside each school.

When HSE becomes involved in a particular case, inspectors may offer information and advice on how to comply with the law, and, where appropriate, may serve improvement or prohibition notices or prosecute, with enforcement proportionate to the risk and the seriousness of the breach. If advice is not enough, HSE can issue notices. An improvement notice allows time to comply and sets out what needs to change. A prohibition notice prohibits an activity until remedial action has been taken, where there is a risk of serious personal injury. If necessary, HSE may prosecute. Information on improvement and prohibition notices should be made publicly available.

That range of tools corrects a common misunderstanding. HSE involvement does not automatically mean prosecution. Advice and notices also do not mean HSE approves every risk assessment or school policy. HSE does not take over the employer’s duty to assess risks, choose control measures, train staff, or monitor whether arrangements are working. Those remain employer and school leadership responsibilities, supported by HSE guidance and competent advice where needed.

HSE also carries out targeted work on particular risks. Asbestos is a clear example. HSE has inspected schools across Great Britain to assess how well they manage asbestos risks, and it publishes findings and guidance from that work. That targeted program is different from managing a school’s buildings. The inspection checks whether the dutyholder’s arrangements are effective. It does not make HSE the dutyholder.

The risks schools typically manage

HSE guidance on whether an issue is really a health and safety matter lists risks that typically arise in schools. They include on site transport movements, falls from height, slips and trips, stress management, work related violence, asbestos management, legionella, construction and maintenance activities, and manual handling. That list is not exhaustive, and the balance of risks will differ from school to school.

HSE guidance on sensible leadership adds that primary schools and traditional classrooms in secondary and sixth form colleges are typically lower risk environments. Risks may increase in design and technology workshops, science laboratories, art studios, textiles, drama, and physical education. Higher risks to manage can include vehicle and pedestrian movements on site, refurbishment and construction work, and adventure activities.

The practical message is proportion. Risk assessments should identify real risks, assess them, and record significant findings. There is no need to assess every aspect of every activity, and assessments for trivial risks are not required. GOV.UK guidance says assessments should record the hazards, how people might be harmed, and what is in place to control risk, and records should be simple and focused on controls. Outcomes should explain to others what they are required to do and help staff with planning and monitoring.

That proportionate approach shapes how HSE talks about play, sport, and science. HSE guidance states that health and safety legislation should not be used as a reason to prevent participation in school sport, and that it encourages managed risk in science and play. A 2011 House of Commons Select Committee report, cited in HSE guidance, found no evidence that health and safety legislation itself prevents practical school science. A decision to cancel an activity needs a real risk reason, not a vague appeal to health and safety.

Asbestos in schools: a worked example

Asbestos illustrates the division between HSE, the employer, and the dutyholder more clearly than most topics. HSE guidance states that asbestos was used extensively as a building material in Great Britain from the 1950s through to the 1990s, and that many schools built before 2000 will contain some form of asbestos. Asbestos containing materials can include lagging on pipes and boilers, sprayed asbestos, asbestos insulating board, some ceiling tiles, floor tiles, cement roofing and guttering, and textured coatings. Risk arises mainly when those materials are disturbed or damaged, for example during maintenance, repair, or construction work. HSE guidance notes that school caretakers are a particular group at risk because of work such as drilling and fixing, and contractors doing maintenance or installation work may also be at risk.

The legal role here is called the dutyholder. Under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, anyone with responsibility for maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises, including schools, is a dutyholder. For most schools, HSE guidance states, the dutyholder will be the employer. Who the employer is varies by school type, as set out above. Where building management budgets are delegated, the duty to manage asbestos may be shared between the school and the local authority, as set out in the authority’s financing scheme.

The dutyholder’s practical tasks are to keep an up to date record of the location and condition of asbestos containing materials, assess the risks from those materials, make plans to manage the risks, and put those plans into action. Anyone likely to work on or disturb asbestos must be given information about its location and condition. Contractors likely to disturb asbestos must be checked for training and competence, and licensed contractors must be used for most work with asbestos insulation, asbestos insulating board, and asbestos coatings. Staff likely to disturb asbestos must be suitably trained, and all staff should be instructed not to disturb or damage those materials, for example by pinning work to insulation board or ceiling tiles.

Two misunderstandings are worth correcting in general terms. First, presence alone does not automatically mean danger. HSE guidance states that asbestos in good condition and unlikely to be damaged or disturbed is not a significant risk to health as long as it is properly managed. Second, health and safety legislation does not require schools to inform parents about the presence of asbestos, although some schools provide information to reassure parents. If arrangements fail and there is an accidental release of fibers, HSE guidance states that those affected should be informed.

In this example, HSE sets the framework, publishes guidance, inspects dutyholders’ arrangements, and enforces the law where needed. It does not survey each school building, write each school’s asbestos management plan, or brief each contractor. Those tasks belong to the dutyholder and people working on its behalf.

School trips, off site activities, and work experience

Health and safety law applies to work activities carried out by the school, including off site activities such as school trips, according to HSE guidance. It applies to risks to staff, pupils, and visitors created by those work activities, and to the work of contractors in the school. At the same time, schools manage many child protection, public safety, and public health issues that are not regulated by occupational health and safety law, and other authorities have responsibility for those areas.

For school trips, HSE guidance states that the key legislation is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, supplemented by regulations including the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and, for certain adventure activity providers, the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 2004. Providers offering and charging for certain adventure activities to those under 18 must be licensed under those regulations. Adventure activity is broadly defined in that context as caving, climbing, trekking, or water sports, and activities abroad do not have to be licensed under that regime. School employers still need to satisfy themselves that a provider is suitable, asking sensible questions proportionate to the level of risk.

Pupil to staff ratios for school trips are not prescribed in law, according to HSE guidance. Ratios and supervision levels should be decided on the basis of risk assessment, taking account of the activity and the age and maturity of the pupils. Written risk assessments are not required for all activities. Lower risk trips should be quick and easy to organize, while higher risk activities should be properly planned and assessed.

Teachers organizing school visits accept responsibility for the care and welfare of pupils and act in loco parentis, in the phrase used in HSE guidance. They also have duties as employees or managers under health and safety law. HSE guidance adds that the main duties are on the employer, not on teachers or headteachers, and teachers will only become personally liable if they ignore clear, direct instructions about serious risks and depart from all common sense. That is a general statement about where legal weight falls, not a guarantee for any individual case.

Overseas trips raise a separate jurisdiction point. Duties under the 1974 Act apply to activities in Great Britain, and an incident occurring overseas is outside HSE jurisdiction. HSE will not investigate the actual circumstances of such an incident itself, but it can consider Great Britain planning behind a visit that may reveal systemic failings in management.

Work experience raises a different boundary. HSE guidance for schools and colleges states that schools and colleges have no responsibility under health and safety law for work experience students, and the employer is responsible for workplace health and safety. Schools arranging placements should check that the employer has risk management arrangements in place, but they do not need additional paperwork to second guess the employer’s risk assessment.

What HSE does not do in schools

HSE does not run schools or employ school staff. It does not set the curriculum, decide school policy on behavior or discipline, or promote the general welfare and wellbeing of pupils as a school welfare function. HSE guidance on what health and safety legislation does not cover lists promoting pupil welfare and wellbeing, communicable diseases, behavior and discipline, criminal record checks, food hygiene, driving and licensing of school minibus drivers, use of seat belts on buses, and waste and pollution control as examples where other authorities have responsibility. Those topics may matter greatly to a school, but they are not automatically HSE topics just because they involve safety in a broad sense.

HSE does not replace the employer. It does not write a school’s health and safety policy for it, carry out its risk assessments for it, or monitor its day to day compliance on its behalf. GOV.UK guidance states that schools must have a health and safety policy in place, with roles and responsibilities, mechanisms to control risk, and specific control measures. HSE guidance explains the elements of that policy in general terms, using a plan, do, check, and act model. The school and its employer must still create, implement, and review the policy itself.

HSE does not approve every activity, provider, or risk assessment in advance. For school trips, HSE guidance notes that the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge scheme is voluntary, and schools are free to use an unbadged provider. Using a badged provider does not remove the need for sensible risk assessment where risks are not already understood and well managed. For work experience, HSE guidance warns schools not to create duplicate checks or give a false impression that they have approved an employer’s risk assessment.

HSE does not act as a general complaints service for every concern about a school. Its remit is workplace health and safety law in Great Britain. A concern about education quality, pupil welfare, or safeguarding may belong to a different body, even if it is described in health and safety language.

Recording, reporting, and review

GOV.UK guidance states that certain work-related injuries to a member of staff or a child must, by law, be recorded and reported, and the employer or proprietor is responsible for this, although staff may be asked to prepare the report. HSE guidance points readers to its education information sheet on incident reporting in schools for detail. The general principle matches the rest of the system: the employer holds the duty, staff may carry out tasks under that duty, and records support review.

GOV.UK guidance states that all schools should regularly monitor and review their health and safety policies, investigate incidents, share learning, and put improvements in place. Schools should generally consider, at least annually, how they measure performance. Risk assessments should be reviewed if there is reason to suspect they are no longer valid or if there has been a significant change.

Staff training fits the same pattern. GOV.UK guidance states that schools must ensure staff receive information and training about health and safety, including how to assess risks specific to their job. Staff whose work involves greater risk need extra or specific training, for example in managing asbestos or handling hazardous materials.

How to read a claim about HSE and schools

Because the phrase “health and safety executive in schools” is used loosely online, readers need a simple way to test claims they meet elsewhere. First, check the jurisdiction. If a page talks about HSE as if it were a worldwide body, a United States body, or a regulator for Northern Ireland, it has moved away from the Great Britain remit described by GOV.UK and HSE. Second, check who is said to be accountable. If a page says HSE is accountable for a school’s safety, it conflicts with HSE guidance that accountability lies with the employer. Third, check whether the page treats every school issue as a health and safety law issue. Fourth, check whether the page claims that health and safety law bans an activity. HSE guidance on sport, science, and play points the other way. Fifth, check the source. Guidance from HSE itself and from GOV.UK sits above general commentary and social media summaries.

Those checks do not answer a question about a particular school. They help a reader understand why two pages can use the same words and reach different conclusions. One page may be describing HSE in Great Britain, while another may be describing a school safety officer role, a United States district role, or a general idea of school safety leadership. Only the first of those is HSE as a regulator.

FAQ

Is HSE the same as a school health and safety officer?

No. HSE is the national regulator for workplace health and safety in Great Britain. A school health and safety officer or competent person works for or advises the school or employer. HSE regulates from outside the school.

Does HSE inspect every school?

HSE guidance does not present HSE as the day to day manager of every school’s arrangements. HSE publishes guidance, carries out targeted work such as asbestos inspections, investigates within its remit, and takes enforcement action where needed.

Who is legally accountable for health and safety in a school?

The employer is accountable. Who the employer is depends on school type and nation within Great Britain, as set out in HSE guidance. Day to day tasks can be delegated to school leaders and staff, but accountability itself is not delegated by that step.

What is a competent person in a school?

A competent person is someone with the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to give sensible guidance about managing health and safety risks at the school. The person can be appointed directly by the school, be one or more members of staff, or be support arranged from outside the school. In most schools, GOV.UK guidance notes, the senior leadership team can manage risks.

Does health and safety law stop school trips, sport, or science experiments?

No, not in the way that claim is often made. HSE guidance states that health and safety legislation should not be used as a reason to prevent participation in school sport, and that it encourages managed risk in science and play. Activities still need proportionate risk assessment.

Does HSE cover pupil welfare, behavior, food hygiene, or minibus licensing?

No, not as occupational health and safety law. HSE guidance lists those areas as examples where other authorities have responsibility. A school still needs to manage those areas, but the reader should not assume that HSE is the regulator for each of them simply because the word safety is involved.

What happens if HSE finds a problem?

In general terms, HSE inspectors may give information and advice on how to comply. If needed, HSE can issue an improvement notice, which allows time to comply, or a prohibition notice, which prohibits an activity until remedial action has been taken. If necessary, HSE may prosecute. Information on improvement and prohibition notices should be made publicly available.

Is HSE responsible for asbestos in a school building?

No, not as dutyholder. The dutyholder under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 is the person with responsibility for maintenance or repair of the premises, and for most schools that will be the employer. HSE sets the framework, publishes guidance, inspects arrangements, and enforces the law. The dutyholder must know where asbestos is, what condition it is in, assess risks, plan, act on the plan, and inform people likely to disturb it.

Do schools need a risk assessment for every small activity?

No. HSE guidance states that there is no need to assess every aspect of every school trip, and assessments for trivial risks are not required. Lower risk activities should be quick and easy to organize, while higher risk activities should be properly planned.

Does HSE apply to schools in Northern Ireland or the United States?

This article describes HSE in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has a separate regulator, and the United States has a different system.

Keep reading: What Does “Occupation” Mean?

Sources & references

Emma Hudson

Editor of Amberaisle — clear, thoughtful explainers for curious readers. More about the editor →