| Health and Safety in Technology Education
When developing technology programmes, schools and teachers need to ensure that the environment, equipment, and the planned learning experiences are all safe, in terms of the age range and levels of competence of the students.
Schools must take account of the mandatory minimum requirements derived from the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and other statutes as set out in the Ministry of Education Health and Safety Code of Practice for State Primary, Composite, and Secondary Schools, 1993. This Code has been distributed to all schools and should form the core reference on this issue.
From Level 1, students should be made aware of their responsibility for their own safety and that of others and, therefore, the importance of using equipment and materials correctly.
Equipment should be carefully selected and regularly maintained, and schools should have a programme of risk management built into their property maintenance policy.
Schools may wish to develop a concise Code of Practice, referring to all the school's policies and documentation relating to health and safety, as a reference for teachers involved in technology education. |
