Classroom risk assessment: What you need to know

In order to comply with health and safety legislation and keep children safe in lessons, you'll need to complete a classroom risk assessment. This can be an arduous job for already-stretched teachers, but it's crucial to understand any possible hazards and put strategies in place to manage them. Read on to find some helpful tips to help you understand what you need to do to complete a classroom risk assessment and the types of risks to consider.

What is a classroom risk assessment?

A classroom risk assessment is a professional document completed by teachers or school staff that identifies potential hazards and advises how to manage these. It provides a plan to follow to minimise the risk of danger in the classroom specifically, and what to do if something does go wrong. Part of a school’s health and safety compliance, a classroom risk assessment is specific to this learning environment, and forms part of a wider risk management strategy that includes other areas of the school such as labs, sports halls, canteens and outdoor areas, as well as school trips. Whilst schools can't completely avoid and eliminate risks, they can complete a classroom risk assessment to help manage and control them as much as possible.

Not all the risks can be eliminated completely; a classroom risk assessment helps you to ensure children (and teachers) aren’t unnecessarily exposed to things that could cause them harm while working in and moving around the class. It proves you’ve done all you can that is reasonably practicable, to keep them safe. Using a health and safety checklist is the best way to ensure you've covered all bases. Some different types of risk assessments include:

• Individual - This type of risk assessment is based on the well-being of a single person.

• Systems - This assessment is on a larger scale, such as risks to technology or networks. 

• Site-specific - This risk assessment evaluates the risks in a certain place, such as your school and classroom. 

• Dynamic - This means a constant risk assessment process that changes dependent on the hazards observed or encountered. 

A classroom risk assessment should answer the following questions:

• What is the activity?

• What are the hazards?

• Who may be harmed?

• What is the risk?

  • likelihood of occurrence

  • severity of harm (low, medium, high)

  • overall risk

• What existing control measures are in place?

• What recommendations or further action are required to remove or reduce the risk?

The Health & Safety Executive provide further information on what should be included on the risk assessment document, and example school risk assessments.

Classroom risk assessment rules and regulations

The law requires schools to assess risks and put in place a school risk assessment to control measures. It also requires a school risk assessment to be detailed, including measures taken to reduce risk, as well as expected outcomes. Schools should record crucial findings of the assessment by identifying:

• Hazards

• How someone may be harmed

• What the school has put in place to control and reduce risk

A classroom risk assessment should be simple and focused on controls. Outcomes should be used to explain to others what they are required to do and help staff with planning and monitoring. But with many classrooms and many risk assessments to handle, paperwork can be overwhelming. Digitising your documents and bringing all your health and safety compliance online is the best way to ensure you are staying up to date with legislation and have a 'golden thread of information' allowing you to evidence and access information when you need it.

Hazards in the classroom

There are many different hazards that can occur in a classroom. It is important to record these hazards and take necessary steps to prevent them. Classrooms pose specific risks that can be exacerbated depending on the size of the class, maturity of pupils, behaviour, lack of space and layout among other things. All of these issues need to be taken into account when completing a classroom risk assessment. Risks include:

Slips, trips, and falls

Some of the most common accidents that take place in any school are slips, trips and falls. This can result in injuries of varying severity, so it is essential to try and prevent this. To do so, walkways through the class should be kept clear at all times, so layout of tables and chairs must be taken into consideration. Any uneven area of the floor must be highlighted to make children and teachers aware of the hazard, thus eliminating the potential for accidents and risks. Non-fatal accidents can have severe financial consequences for your school.

Plug sockets

Plug sockets can create many hazards. To prevent injury, you should always have an adult supervisor present when the children are using electrical items. Especially for younger children, it is best to have an adult plug and unplug electrical items for the children. Within your classroom, you should ensure there are sufficient sockets available to prevent the use of extension leads. All electrical items and electricity sockets should also be PAT tested to ensure they are safe for use and sockets must not be overloaded. Electrical wires from monitors, whiteboards or other equipment should be hidden and secured.

Fire

As with any public building, it is essential that all schools have a fire evacuation policy. If a fire were to break out in the school environment, staff, pupils and visitors could be subject to burns, smoke inhalation and face serious injuries or death. As part of your classroom risk assessment, you should consider the risk of fire within the room. There should also be a whole-school fire risk assessment carried out and reviewed regularly. There should be regular checks on the emergency exits and firefighting equipment to make sure that they are unobstructed and functioning. Staff should also be trained to follow the evacuation procedure to ensure a safe evacuation in the event of a fire. 

Furniture

Although they are necessary for a classroom, furniture and fittings can actually be hazards to staff and pupils, and risks usually arise from a poor classroom set-up. Faulty equipment can be removed from the classroom to prevent the risk of injury. Poorly positioned items to be moved to a more suitable place so that they don’t block any exit points or fire escapes. Children should also be encouraged to keep the classroom neat and tidy, particularly by pushing any chairs under the tables when not in use. Although a bookshelf is not a risk in itself, it becomes a dangerous hazard if it's not properly secured to a wall. In the same way, a heavy wall-mounted object like a television, whiteboard or noticeboard would need to be secured and checked regularly. 

Specialist classroom equipment

Some classes designed for specific subjects will have more hazards than others, so it's crucial that a classroom risk assessment is tailored to each environment, as there is no one-size-fits-all. For example:

• Science classrooms - these can contain many different hazards from dangerous chemicals to Bunsen burners. Schools should ensure that dangerous substances and equipment are properly stored, as well as provide staff and students with protective equipment.

• Art classrooms -  dangerous chemicals are often found in paints, inks and adhesives. Any equipment should be stored correctly and only used with adult supervision.

• Design technology classrooms - equipment such as hot glue guns and sewing machines can cause injury and should only be used with supervision. In food technology lessons, there are additional hazards when using hot ovens and pans. Before using any dangerous equipment, children should be taught how to use it safely and effectively. 

General classroom equipment

Even the most simple equipment can pose a hazard if not handled correctly, so classroom risk assessments must also take all apparatus used by children into account, however inconspicuous. This can include:

• Glue - across many different subjects, children will need to use glue. It is required of all primary schools across the UK that the children only use, and have access to, non-toxic and insoluble glue. This reduces the risk of poisoning if ingested. Any other strong, more adhesive glues must be kept away from children to prevent any accidents and risks.

• Scissors - children must be taught how to use scissors safely and directly supervised until they can use them correctly (cutting away from the body, not running with scissors, passing scissors handle first etc). These skills can be taught from a young age, reducing the risk of accidents across the whole school.  Schools must also provide right-handed and left-handed scissors so that all children can use scissors safely. When not in use, the scissors should be stored in a safe place, and only used with adult supervision. 

• Art and craft materials - some art materials contain ingredients which can trigger things like headaches, asthma, sickness and allergic reactions in some children, especially if they are used in a poorly ventilated area. While they may not pose risks if they are used properly, they can lead to health issues if they are accidentally ingested or inhaled, or come into contact with skin. Care must be taken at all times when using any such art and craft materials, and they must be stored securely and out of reach of young children.

We hope this information has been helpful and will help you when completing a classroom risk assessment. Read our Guide to Health and Safety in Schools for more information on how to manage health and safety in your school.

Here at Crysp, we are all about helping schools digitise and manage their risks. Contact us now for a chat about how we can help ease the pressures of managing health and safety obligations, saving you budget, time and stress.