Who is responsible for Health and Safety?

The science teacher is responsible for ensuring the safety of the pupils in their laboratory, and for their own safety.

Science teachers should ensure that they have read and are aware of current policy, that they are familiar with the equipment and chemicals that they use in the laboratory. It is the sole responsibility of staff to undertake a risk assessment for every activity they carry out in class, assessing both the nature of the hazard and the scale of the risk.

Department managers are responsible for ensuring that members of the department have the information they need to make informed decisions when performing a risk assessment. This includes providing the department with up to date information which is done via departmental meetings, through circulars and during formal and informal training.