Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is the process of identifying potential problems and deciding how important they are and what steps should be taken to minimise their impact.

Our Risk assessment should be minuted before the event to comply with our insurance policy terms, so this should be part of the event planning meeting.

Risk Assessment for Children's Events

To have a record of every person attending PTA supervised events:

• Make forms available for carers to fill in beforehand to record:
  • Child's name and class;
  • Contact details of carer during event;
  • Any special instructions from carers (e.g. Allergies, disabilities etc.).
• Forms to include liability disclaimer (see legal/insurance notes below).
• Forms to be filled in and brought in with child or signed at the entrance
• Fill in a checklist of attendees' names and ask carer to sign child in.
• Include on checklist names of helpers/any others attending

To meet our 'Duty of Care' during events:

• Supervision:
  • Ratio of 1:10 adults to children.
  • Designate members with CRB clearance to help with toilet visits should it become necessary for intervention. Provide disposable gloves.
  • Toilet run supervisors to ensure that all children visiting the toilets actually come out again for fire safety etc.
  • Adequate supervision of children in all areas e.g. enough people in the hall to prevent misbehaviour etc.
  • Door supervision/block off unused corridors to prevent children from straying outside or around the school.
  • All entry and exit doors should be manned.
  • Helpers:
    • Main hall entrance & outside door - 2 people (initially on the door as box office).
    • Back hall entrance & outside door - 2 people.
    • Hall fire exit - 2 people (initially on the door).
    • Toilet trip supervision - include CRB checked helpers - 2 people.
    • Tuck Shop - 2 people (often have help from older children of PTA members).
• Food and Drink
  • Forms to include space for information about specific needs of their children e.g. allergies/special instructions etc.
  • Display list of food/drink prices to enable carers to judge how much money to give children for event.
  • Try as far as possible to supply food & drinks which do not contain nut products or harmful additives.
  • Enable unlimited access to drinking water during the event.
  • Maintain good hygiene standards in all food preparation/distribution areas (N.B. Food Hygiene Certification not currently required for PTA events).
• General
  • The NCPTA recommend designating a safety officer for each event.
  • It is not a requirement of the NCPTA public liability insurance for us to provide first aid cover. However, they recommend that to meet our duty of care we have someone in attendance that can administer basic first aid.
  • Ensure all members know who the safety officer/first aiders are and where they are to be found in an emergency.
  • Safety officer to carry checklist of names of all children and adults present.
  • Safety officer to ensure members know location of fire exits, evacuation procedure and meeting point in the event of a fire.
  • Venue should be checked before the event starts to ensure that routes to emergency exits are unobstructed.
  • Have a mop and bucket to hand to clean up any spills immediately.
  • Electrical equipment should comply with safety standards/have been checked before use.
  • Enable carers to attend if they have special concerns about their child(ren).

To return children safely to their carer(s):

• Have staff present who are familiar with many of the children and their carers.
• Have a system of signing out at the end of the event.
• Use safety officer’s checklist to tick names as they go.

To be able to contact carers if necessary:

• School holds contact details for all families, however:
• Forms to include Child’s name, Class, Parent/Guardian name & contact number.

To act legally and be covered under our insurance policy terms:

• Ensure all required licences have been obtained.
• Inform the police of dates/times of larger events that may cause traffic congestion or attract large crowds of people.
• Our insurance protects the Association, its officers and members, against their legal liability for injury or death to any third party and/or damage to their property, up to £10,000,000 for any one incident.
• The NCPTA recommends that we also provide a disclaimer that children take part at their own risk. This is because genuine accidents, where no liability is attributable, will not be covered by any public liability insurance e.g. if a child trips over their shoe lace and injures themselves, this is not covered.
• External service providers, entertainers etc. should have their own Public Liability Insurance but we have responsibility for checking this.
• We are covered under insurance for the following cash amounts:
  • In a locked safe in an alarmed area: £10,000
  • In a locked safe outside an alarmed area: £1,000
  • In private houses with adult occupation at time of loss: £500
  • In private houses, unoccupied at time of loss: £500
  • From unattended motor vehicles: £300
  • In school premises when closed: £300
• However, the school's insurance policy does not allow us to leave large amounts of cash in their safe.
• Cash should be counted at the event and either kept in a safe or distributed among members for safekeeping until banked.

© LMPS PTA 2008