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Press Release

NUT on Lord Young's health and safety report

15 October 2010

Commenting on the report Common Sense, Common Safety, Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

"It will be Lord Young's proposals, not the current health and safety rules, that will discourage school trips. It is just not true to say risk assessments prevent trips taking place. To say that teachers shouldn't consider risks before taking children and young people out on trips just seems absurd. We don't want to see teachers filling in reams of forms for the sake of it, but I'm sure most teachers would agree that you have to consider in advance what might go wrong and take precautions.

"The point of risk assessments is to make sure the systems and arrangements will be safe, not to limit compensation claims. While we agree there is sometimes excessive and unnecessary bureaucracy involved, the answer is not to remove it, but to ensure risk assessment is done well and efficiently.

"Teachers and parents will be alarmed at the prospect of abolishing the Adventure Activities Licensing Scheme (AALS) and replacing it with a voluntary code of practice. This will not offer sufficient guarantee that centres are well run and safe. This is not a question of health and safety 'gone mad'. If cowboy operations start up, pupils’ health and lives are at risk."



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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