An influential group of MPs has called on the Government to embark on the phased removal of asbestos from all schools to protect teachers, staff and children from the dust’s potentially harmful effects.

A science teacher and the son of a colleague both sustained burns when an experiment in the school science lab involving a flammable substance went wrong. 

The Government has vowed to look at how health and safety legislation can be removed, amended, or simplified so that over-zealous interpretations and decisions, which inhibit school activities, can be tackled.

The growth and popularity of free schools could expose teachers and pupils to health risks from poor asbestos management, unless the Government gets to grips with providing better training on the matter for governors and teachers.

Teachers in England are using health and safety as a “convenient excuse” for not organising practical experiments and school trips, a group of MPs has found.

A volunteer at the National Film and Television School has been left paralysed after falling more than two metres from a mock staircase on set.

A building firm failed to warn its employees that asbestos was present during renovations at a school in Warwickshire.

School visits have been in the news quite a bit recently – mainly because the Government has been trying to persuade teachers to organise more visits by reducing health and safety “bureaucracy”1 but, as Peter Cookson argues, it is not paperwork that stops teachers organising visits – parental attitudes and plans to do away with the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA)2 are more likely to be the final nails in the coffin of educational trips.

Andrew Sansom visits the picturesque archipelago of Scilly to discover how health and safety is being managed as part of the construction of a new school.

Fed up of flipcharts? Sick of slides? Training doesn’t have to be tedious, as a trio of creative and engaging new methods investigated by Tina Weadick and Vic Motune demonstrates.

A university has been praised by the HSE for its commitment to safety by providing free training over and above the legal minimum requirement.

A member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) has undertaken a study into how educational psychologists respond to crisis situations, such as school bus accidents and injuries to pupils and staff.

The Government has launched a consultation on simplifying and reducing unnecessary regulation on school estate, following the recommendations of an independent review on how education capital is spent in England.

Safety products distributor Arco has joined forces with the Bloodhound Ambassador Programme, which aims to create and encourage a surge in the popularity of science technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) by working closely with schools and colleges throughout the UK.

More than half of education staff believe there is a growing trend towards risk aversion in schools, with school trips and traditional playground games falling victim to the ‘play-safe culture’.