Risk assessment within a school

[PenguinTuxedo]

Just had a quick question regarding this. I'm almost 15 weeks pregnant, and I was wondering what most school's risk assessment procedures are for pregnant woman.

I work across two schools, and one do an individual risk assessment on a pregnant woman, but my main school have refused to do one, not giving a reason why. I'm wondering if the reason is because they may have a 'blanket' risk assessment for pregnant woman, therefore an individual one may not be necessary? That's just my guess atm, so I just wondered what other people's experiences in other schools was regarding this.

Thanks in advance for any help/replies!

My school's risk assessment when I was pregnant was, 'if there's a fight-don't go near it!'

I'm not a teacher I'm an Environmental Health Officer. A pregnancy risk assessment must be specific to you, not generic to anyone. So your first school is correct. It should be reviewed several times during your pregnancy.

Oh really Pseudo? That's very interesting, thank you very much!

Mine basically says get the kids to carry boxes of books.

I'm trying to get them to agree to me not having to move classrooms 5 times a day as the stairs are killing me. I'm 28 weeks pregnant with twins.

Wow, that must be tough going for you littlesupersparks. Moving classrooms that much is ridiculous given the circumstances.

My issue isn't so much with carrying things, it's more thn I work with some difficult children, who at times, can be violent and have been violent with me in the past. That's why I'm concerned really, as I don't have to be working with these children. I've been told before that with one particular child, that due to an incident I shouldn't be in lessons with him, but being pulled out of those lessons never happened. So I'm wondering if I need a risk assessment done on that basis really.

Sounds pretty important to me. Are there any other adults with you? X

Usually there would be one other adult, but very occasionally I may be left alone. The last incident happened with another adult though, who didn't help me. However, I wasn't pregnant at the time. So I'm just trying to find out if I can demand a risk assessment if they have to do one by law, because god forbid if anything did happen, I don't want the blame to fall on me!

www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/faqs.htm

I work in H&S and have good knowledge on this area. A generic risk assessment can be ok if the job is very standard and risks really minimal. It may just say things like don't lift boxes etc and it should be based on an equal discussion between both sides. It should be agreed and only then signed. It should be reviewed if anything changes eg. If you say you are find to drive for work but later are not well enough. Where they are actually very real risks it should be individual and in much greater detail e.g consider each challenging child you deal with and risks

The risk assessment legally must be suitable and sufficient. This means it had to be appropriate for the specific circumstances.

When I was a midwife I used to specifically ask if school staff had been risk assessed in relation to not just the job but any individual children that posed a risk.

As a mum with a child with challenging behaviour I demanded that my son's TA was removed the day I was told they were starting to transition his support due to her pregnancy. I dealt with a huge fall out as I would not put her at risk and I thought the HT and TA were going to cry with relief

Thanks so much for your help and advice everyone.

The research online can be a bit confusing, so it's really great to have people's opinions about my individual situation within a school, rather than just general information online about a general workplace.

From the online research I have done though, I understand I need to officially inform them in writing before they legally have to do anything. Not that this was the reason given for my refusal of a risk assessment, but I figure I better check all the boxes before I kick up a fuss!

So I'm in the middle of writing my letter now, and the person I went to previously was the deputy SENCO (who is sort of my line manager), but I'm thinking of just bypassing her, and going straight to the SENCO now (who is also a member of SLT) as I feel I might get a result that way.

Unsure of whether to mention in the 'confirming my pregnancy to them' letter whether to request the risk assessment formally in that.

The exact format does not matter but yes I think you should confirm pregnant and thus request RA at same time. It may take a week or so to agree a date to do it

Thank you. I've written the letter, and included that I've been denied one when I previously requested one, so I hope this letter serves as the official confirmation they need to carry out a risk assessment under health and safety laws etc. I also included Im aware that without one, I'm not insured by the school should something happen.

I'll hand it in tomorrow and hope something is done in the next week or so! Thanks for everyone's help :)