Risk assessment for operating the tiered seating in the school theatre building, where the fashion show event and rehearsals will take place in. The assessor for this health and safety check will be Rob Ryan. The date that this was assessed was the 10th of July 2017, and the re assessment date which has been booked is on July 2018. I am writing up in regards to this health and safety risk as it is a very key factor of the fashion show event as the school theatre is the location of the event so it is incredibly important that the venue itself is safe for all those involved in the fashion show and all the audience members coming to watch.
| Hazard | Why is this a hazard? | Who is at risk? | Severity 1= Insignificant 2= Minor 3= Moderate 4= Major 5= Catastrophic | Existing control measures | Likelihood 1= Improbable 2= Conceivable 3= Likely 4= Probable 5= Certainty | Risk Rating Severity x Likelihood | Acceptable Tolerable Action required (9+) Prohibited | Improvements / Action Required | Residual Risk |
| Tiered seating is not operated safely. | An untrained person operates the mechanism. | Pupils, staff, visitors. | 3 | 1. Only people trained to operate the tiered seating are to operate it. 2. When not in use, the controls are kept secure. | 2 | 6 | 6 | The people trained to operate the tiered seating are the Premises Team. | 2 |
| Seating and side up- stands can cause injury. | Sharp edges, heavy weights and risk of finger trapping. | Staff, pupils to a lesser extent. | 3 | Care is taken when preparing seating for closure or re-opening following closure. Only trained staff are involved in the procedure. | 2 | 6 | 6 | The people trained to operate the tiered seating are the Premises Team. | 2 |
| Person / props / furniture / equipment, becoming trapped under the tiered seating, when it is being close or opened. | There is room for people and equipment to go under the tiered seating. | Pupils, staff, visitors. | 4 | 1. Before closing up the tiered seating: Make a sweep of seated areas and a sweep under the seating, to ensure that there are no people, props or equipment trapped on or under the seating area. Remove all hanging cables. Ensure nobody goes underneath. 2. Before opening up tiered seating: ensure floor space in front of the seating is clear. | 2 | 8 | 8 | The room is kept secure and empty. | 4 |
This risk assessment was signed and carried out by R J Ryan.
Aside from the risk assessment carried out for the tiered seating in the school theatre, I also had to check the health and safety policy statement of the facility for our school. This health and safety policy statement for facilities in Blackheath High School was published on the 28th November 2018 under the H&S Oracle in the H&S Policy section. This policy is reviewed annually by Andrew Merryweather. The purpose of this policy document is meant to record the responsibilities for implementing the policy in the facilities and caretakers department. The general aims of the policy are so that the facilities department staff are aware of what their duties and responsibilities are in school facilities. This policy statement is very important and links with the health and safety checks I need to explore for this section, as I have to know and identify what health and safety risks there are and what responsibilities specific people have in the school to make sure that everyone is safe, especially during the night of the fashion show event and during rehearsals. The duties of all the facilities department staff (all school staff, which most will be present on the night of the show and there will be several during rehearsals to supervise and make sure that everyone is safe) are as listed: they have to be familiar with, implement and promote both the schools and the facilities department's health and safety rules and procedures first of all. They also have to ensure that all parts of the school are safe for pupils, staff and visitors at all times by looking out for hazards, for example; slipping and tripping hazards, damaged or defective equipment, and taking prompt and appropriate action to prevent accidents. Such as by remedying defects or making the area or equipment safe and reporting the hazard to the person who can arrange for it to be replaced or repaired. This is important as if there are any slipping or tripping hazards in the theatre, I know what the protocol is and which people are in charged of doing what. If there is any damaged or defective equipment in the theatre such as the steps are broken or there is any lighting that is broken, there are certain people in charge to go for to make sure that everyone remains in a safe environment. It also the responsibility of the facilities staff to take reasonable care of their own health & safety and anyone else, particularly pupils, who may be affected by their acts or omissions. They also have to co-operate with other members of staff to ensure good standards of health & safety are maintained, and departmental activities do not put anyone at an unacceptable risk of injury, harm or ill health. This is important and if anything goes wrong on the night of the fashion show or during rehearsals, this is who is in charge for me or another person to go to receive help from and there will at least two members of staff present during rehearsals for safety. There are also more health and safety responsibilities, for example the head of the facilities department who is Andrew Merryweather, who has an overall responsibility for the day to day management of health and safety within the department and in particular he is responsible for completing and regularly reviewing comprehensive 'area' and 'activity' risk assessments. For the facilities department they have a responsibility for completing and regularly reviewing comprehensive risk assessments relating to manual handling, use of machinery/equipment, use of hazardous chemicals, lone working, working at height, noise and vibration. Risk assessments have already been made for the theatre so this would not be a problem. There will be no issue with handling equipment and machinery or chemicals so this section does not particularly relate for the fashion show health and safety, however, the technical team will be using some machinery in the back room but there will be at least one staff member of the tech team present to supervise the student tech team. The head of the facilities department, Andrew Merryweather, is also responsible for ensuring that staff within the department receive appropriate health and safety training which is refreshed on a regular basis including: emergency procedures, first aid arrangements, accident reporting, fire safety, personal safety including lone working, hazard spotting and defect reporting, risk assessment, manual handling, use of specialist equipment including personal protective equipment, use of hazardous chemicals, working at height and keeping appropriate records. This is important as this shows that all staff in the school have had this training and do know exactly what to do in case first aid is needed and how to report it effectively for references and record in school. This also shows that in case of a fire happening in the event, there is an exact protocol of who is in charge in case of this happening. There is also going to be a short but important health and safety announcement right in the beginning of the show made by the hosts of the show, to make sure everyone knows what to do in the event of a fire and where the fire exits are. This is incredibly important because it is very key that all the guests know exactly what to do in case of an emergency happening to know exactly where to exit as well. Another responsibility of the staff is to ensure all equipment, including electrical equipment, used in the facilities department is safe by completing regular in house safety checks. This does apply for the fashion show because there will be a lot of technology involved in the fashion show such as the use of lighting for spot lights, flashing lights and lighting on the steps. There will be lights installed in the steps of the theatre so when the models walk down the steps, the lights on the steps light up accordingly. This will be monitored by the staff tech team but the student tech team for the fashion show will be implementing it through learning from the staff. It is important for any safety equipment, such as; guards, emergency cut off devices, alarms, rescue equipment, signs and warning notices are available, in good working condition and are used when necessary to protect people from harm. This is key as the most important thing in the event is to keep everyone safe, this will mainly be carried out through these alarms to alert the audience and us (the students and staff behind the scenes) if there are any issues and if we need to evacuate the site, so it is imperative that they are all working in order. The policy also states that the facilities department, have to investigate all accidents that occur in the department, or as a result of departmental activities, and ensuring measures are implemented to prevent, where possible, incidents recurring. In the many years, of the school theatre site being present, there have not been any recorded accidents so this is not such an important aspect as there are no immediate hazards and no past history of anything happening as a result of this, the chances of such an event occurring during the fashion show, are close to nothing.It also a bug responsibility in school that all accidents and significant near misses that occur in each department, are recorded in line with the school's accident / near miss reporting procedures. The art department are the department who put on the show and organise the show, and in all the years of the fashion show being held, there has not been a single reported incident or accident or near misses of accidents, so once again this shows that the chances of any accidents happening this year in the fashion show are very slim to none. This shows that the school theatre is very safe and has all the adequate risk assessments needed to prove this. These responsibilities that I have listed above have been delegated to specific members of the staff which I will list below with the name and position of the person that they have been delegated to.
| Task: | Name: | Position: | |
| 1 | Completing regular safety checks on all equipment used in the department. | Dave Greyson | Senior Caretaker |
| 2 | Completing regular checks on all safety equipment used/available in the department. e.g. first aid kits. | Dave Greyson | Senior Caretaker |
| 3 | Checking the condition of personal protective equipment used by pupils and staff on a regular basis. | Dave Greyson | Senior Caretaker |
| 4 | Organising regular servicing, maintenance and inspections of equipment by specialist engineers or examiners. | Andrew Merryweather | Facilities Manager |
This table above shows who is in charge and who has been delegated the most responsible for the safety of everyone present. They have signed off the routine checks which deems the theatre to be safe for use.
Through these risk assessments, health and safety checks and by checking through the official health and safety policy handbook for the school, and from what I observed, the theatre is a very safe place where the fashion show event can happen without the threat of any serious incidents, and for the show to take place in for the audience to enjoy.
Practical Issues:
Through this research, I have looked into the practical issues regarding health and safety such as using the theatre for rehearsals and rehearsing on the catwalk staging in the theatre. The theatre has had frequent checks to ensure the highest safety possible, this leads me to believe that the theatre will be safe for rehearsing. However, if an accident was to occur, there would be at least two adult teachers present during the main after school rehearsals to ensure it is safe. However the more smaller rehearsals organised by designers would not be supervised by a member of staff, so to ensure the safety of these, students must be responsible and sensible during these rehearsals, and these are during school hours such as in break or lunch time, so if a problem were to occur then a member of staff could be consulted and found in school for help. In the theatre, there are two main catwalk aisles with steps so this might be a potential safety hazard so students have to take extra care when walking on the stage. However these will be well light up to ensure that students are able to see the staging properly when walking and rehearsing so the risk is reduced.
When rehearsing after school, the main issue is making sure that models attend all or at least the majority of rehearsals. In order to make sure that the models and designers all come to rehearsals, there will be a lot of messages in assembly and emails and letters sent out to ensure that everyone is very clear on the dates on when to come to rehearsals.