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Collage Theatres, H&s, Responsibilities


dominicgross

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Hey people:

 

Our third venue is looming upon us at collage, as boss man I'm just wondering how far H&S issues extend: For example,

 

Is H&S the responsibility of the collage or of me and the theatre team? (eg. Accident logging, PAT testing...)

 

Would the team be responsible for first aid in the theatre or does it come under collage's maternal embrace?

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With respect, Dom, your birthday as listed in your personal profile puts you as being 16 years old - so I fail to see in what way you could possibly be the "boss man" of a new theatre venue at your school.

 

This does mean, however, that the good news for you is that you as a pupil have no H&S responsibility over and above the basic 'duty of care' which would be expected of anyone undertaking any sort of technical work (supervised or otherwise) in a theatre. The main H&S duties rest with the member of staff who has responsibility for looking after the venue, then following the chain of 'command' upwards I suspect you'd get to the headmaster, the board of governors, and ultimately your local authority. But don't worry, as a mere pupil at the school this need not concern you directly - unless you witness a situation which is obviously unsafe or which contravenes H&S regs, in which case you are duty-bound to bring it to the attention of someone in a position of responsibility.

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Easy there, Dom! I wasn't taking issue with your language skills - indeed, your grasp of the English language is better than that of some people of twice your age and more. :o

 

All I was saying is that I can't really see any realistic way in which a 16 year old school pupil would ever be considered as the "boss man" of any sort of venue as part of an educational establishement in terms of the requirement for such a person to shoulder the overall responsibility for things like H&S and licensing, so I really don't think you've got anything to worry about regarding H&S over and above the basic duty of care which should be taken by anyone who sets foot into a venue to do technical work (voluntary, paid or otherwise). Just have fun! It sounds like your school is blessed with better drama facilities than most, so make the most of it.

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Not an easy answer I'm afraid......I've worked as Tech Manager for 2 educational establishments now and although the H&S is ultimately the responsibility of the Estates dept, they never really understand the concept of the theatre and how it needs to be managed....I have found the best way is to work WITH them to make sure all areas are covered, ie reminding them when the PAT testing needs to be done, SWL tests on grids etc. They don't actually realise the implications of a theatre and need gently persuading as to the jobs that they need to carry out on a regular basis. I've personally never had a problemwith them saying they won't do something, they have all respected the fact that I know more than they do about how the theatres need to function and have asked my advice on the best way to carry things out......in short I guess what I'm trying to say is it's been a two way thing.....and COMMUNICATE!!!!!!
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I've personally never had a problemwith them saying they won't do something, they have all respected the fact that I know more than they do about how the theatres need to function and have asked my advice on the best way to carry things out......in short I guess what I'm trying to say is it's been a two way thing.....and COMMUNICATE!!!!!!

 

 

Quite.

 

It is most disconcerting to read many of the posts in these fora (forums?) that are to do with 'responsibility' because so many young people (16 - 18) are involved.

In the UK it is the employer's duty to take responsibility for all activity on their premises, and in the case of a school or college, the students or trainees are generally treated as employees with no responsibility but that generally required to themselves and to others. That is to say a basic duty not to expose themselves (or anyone else who may be affeceted by their actions) to risk. The supervision of employees falls to the manager/supervisor/teacher or responsible adult appointed.

 

The duty to undertake risk assessment was an interesting case in point - what the hell are these places thinking of when someone posts the question "Am I competent to do a risk assessment?"

a) if they need to ask, no, they aren't competent.

b) it's neither their place or responsibility.

c) the lack of supervision suggests the management is not competent, either.

 

Very, very worrying.

Rant over (father of three)...................

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Well said Chris,

 

But unfortunately, I have found that quite often educational establishments do place a lot of burdon onto those Lecturers/Tutors/Department heads who are not adequately trained or experienced to make well informed decisions, or go about things within 'industry best practice' models.

 

I have fights on over spending on consumables, licencing and H&S issues which are not part of normal educational policies, and are subsequently not included or covered in any way by standard policy documents within education.

 

Onto the point of students, I have worked and do work with a great bunch of students who are very much wanting to learn about technical crafts, but who are allowed to do activites above and beyond their capabilities, they wish to learn everything, but unfortunately do lack some of the fundamental understanding of many tasks/activities.

 

I do not in any way wish to create a debate regarding the quality of teaching and learning but from my experience certain groundwork in eduacation in technical activities is overlooked when it is more important than something which shall be learnt as part of a future career anyway.

 

I do apologise to anyone with less cynical views than my own or anyone who has a different viewpoint on these matters

 

Owen

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My wife is a teacher and was until recently a union health and safety rep.

 

I asked her what the status of pupils was under the HSW Act was and she said that they are not covered by it because they are not employees. As far as their health and welfare goes then the school has a duty of care towards them but not through the HSWA.

 

Another point about H&S management responsibilty is the principle that whoever has that responsibility must be able to 'stand up' for themselves. It's no good giving the 'job' to someone who is ignored and over-ruled by higher management.

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I do a lot of work in different schools and so often even when there is a an appointed person with the responsibility that does argue a good case for H&S they get over-ruled on finacial grounds. While totally agreeing with Brian I think it needs to go a step further and it needs to be recognized that some cost may need to be involved to implement H&S properly and money needs to be available for this. See the recent post on paying for safety chains/steels as an example
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...a good case for H&S they get over-ruled on finacial grounds

I'm sure I'm not the only person here who will agree with you and say that this is totally unacceptable.

 

Whilst the law of diminishing returns applies as much to H&S as anything else, for someone to simply say that there is no money to 'clean-up' a companies act is just not on.

 

Maybe if you pointed any 'reluctant' managers to HSE Prosecutions you might get a different answer.

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