Health & Safety

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment regulations (PUWER98) place a number of requirements on employers. In particular, their employees must receive suitable and sufficient initial training in any processes which they are required to undertake and must also receive update training at regular intervals. These regulations are a legal requirement, not guidance!

To meet the above requirements, Parliament approved Curriculum order 2000 which set up a framework for a code of practice in secondary D&T. Essentially, this is a set of standards that are formally agreed by all interested parties in the sector. In the case of schools they included the main teaching unions, the D&T Association, the DFE, the TDA, NAAIDT, OFSTED, BSI and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). The normal route to meet these agreed standards is given below.

D&TA Accreditation - Key points

• The D&T Association administer a H&S scheme that meets the nationally agreed standards for Health & Safety in Design & Technology in Schools and similar establishments.

• It is widely known, it is approved by the HSE and it meets both BS4163 and the PUWER98 requirements

• Under this Scheme, only registered consultants can award initial and update certificates of competence.

• ETC can provide both training and certification to these national standards. (Consultant registration No. 0546).

To establish the probable time needed and cost, schools will first need to complete and return an audit grid. This will list how many staff need training, which machines or areas are required and whether it is initial or refresher training. These requirements can of course be amended later to fit with time availability or school budget constraints

To download a copy of the audit sheet, click this link ....

To view the range of certificates available click here .....

To open the H&S on the D&TA website click here ............