|
Why the emphasis on Health & Safety for Work Experience?
As approved organisers of work experience, we are required, by law, to ensure that the workplace all of our students attend are suitable for a young person.
We are not health and safety inspectors nor advisors, but we are trained to a recognised standard to be able to make an informed judgement as to the safety and suitability of the placement.
We are required to visit all employers who undertake work experience and do this at regular intervals. We will spend time with our employers helping them to put together a suitable programme of activities for the placement and helping them to understand the aspects that they need to ensure are in place for the student, such as an Induction, that they have current Employer's Liability Insurance, that there will be supervision at all times provided and that the student will be trained for all activities undertaken int he workplace. We are not in the business of telling employers what a student can't do, but would rather be seen as helping the employer to understand just how much a student can do in a placement given that the right measures are in place.
In accordance with European legislation, employers are required to provide a Risk Assessment for all employees and young people on their premises and this includes work experience students, who change status to become an employee in the workplace. We collect this risk assessment from all of our employers and we also carry out as much of the paperwork and administration as possible to reduce the burden on employers. We believe that employers give a great deal by providing the placement in the first place, so we want to reduce the administrative burden on them, by us doing the work (where we can) for them!
We pass on all details on the placements to the pupils and their parents, including your risk assessments, and help the schools by providing the reports and managing the process for them.
|
