Standard Procedure and Guidance
for
Hosting children and young people on work experience
Reference:
SPG-40-14
Effective Date:
03/4/2014
Review by:
31/12/2016
Author:
Dr Teresa Knapp
Signature
Version
Date
Reason for Change
2
28th March 2014
Updating information and
reformat
Date
28/3/2014
1.0 Purpose
This document provides advice for people hosting or thinking about hosting children or young
people for work experience
Definitions
From time to time requests are made for children or young persons to undertake work
experience within the School. Under such circumstances, the School has a responsibility to
protect and safeguard their welfare. There is no statutory duty requiring that staff obtain a
CRB check unless:
1. Students have been identified by the school as vulnerable for educational, medical,
behavioural or home circumstance reasons.
2. Students on placements lasting more than 15 days over an extended time-frame,
especially where these involve:
regular lone working with an employer over long periods (i.e. anything over half a
day at a time);
placements located in particularly isolated environments;
and placements involving a high degree of travelling.
3. Placements which include a residential element.
in such cases advice should be obtained before proceeding.
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We are however required by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to ensure that
where people have been identified and considered as unsuitable to work with children they are
prevented from gaining access to children through their work
All staff and students working with children or young people are role models and will need to
be aware of the potential risks and the practical steps which can be taken to minimise the
risks.
2.0 Definitions
For the purposes of this policy:A Child is a person who is sixteen years old or under
A Young Person is any person who has not reached the age of eighteen
3.0 Hosting Arrangements
The School has standing arrangements with a number of schools across the region and is
audited as to Health and Safety arrangements by the relevant authority. Each region may
have different arrangements regarding its safety management for work experience, currently
East Sussex is managed by a dedicated Work Experience Team in Standards Learning and
Effectiveness, ESCC. Each region will carry out separate audit processes, this normally
involves an audit visit lasting a couple of hours where our safety assessments and practices
for supervising young people are reviewed.
We would normally expect the request to host work experience events to come from the
organisations e.g. schools, colleges, Careers Service Company or a local education authority
that identify work experience opportunities for young people. In some circumstances it may be
the parent or guardian of the young individual.
4.0 Risk Assessment
Children and young persons are a high risk group in the workplace. They are inexperienced
and liable to underestimate danger and may overestimate their own capabilities. Because of
this, there is a legal requirement under the Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999:
“to ensure that young persons are protected at work from any risks to their health or safety which are a consequence of their lack of experience, or absence of awareness
of existing or potential risks or the fact that young persons have not yet fully matured”
A written assessment must be completed and should be submitted to the school that the
young person is coming from before the placement begins. This assessment should give brief
details of the risks to which the young person may be exposed during their work experience
placement and the protective and preventative measures put in place to control and reduce
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those risks. It should also cover the level of supervision to be provided. Any known disability
or pre-existing medical condition, for example allergy or colour blindness, needs to be taken
into account when preparing the risk assessment as well as the inexperience, lack of
awareness of risks and immaturity of the child or young person.
Take into account the young person’s age, inexperience, immaturity and lack of awareness of risks.
Give consideration to any other learning difficulties, disabilities or medical/health conditions.
Consider the young person’s aptitude, ability and attitude initially and on an ongoing basis.
Consider the need for adequate supervision
Provide adequate risk control measures that are explained to the young person and their
supervisor.
Determine the need for any personal protective equipment (PPE) and provide such
Provide adequate information, instruction and training for the young person.
Review the attached generic risk assessment for students with Special Educational Needs or
medical/physical conditions (the school can help you with this.)
Any revisions you make to the generic risk assessment should be sent to the school, in order that a
copy can be sent to parents/carers.
The assessment should contain emergency contact details for the young person, this maybe
their parent or guardian, but is often the work experience organiser at the school.
Once complete this document which also acts as authority to host the event should be signed
by the HoS and TSM, after which the document will be filed and stored securely.
In the case of an accident or injury to a young person, please contact the Senior Employer Liaison
Officer Work Experience Team for ESCC on 01323 464320 immediately.
5.0 Prohibited Activities
When planning the work placement, it should be noted that where a child or young person is
concerned, no work shall:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
be longer than a standard 8 hour day, five days in any consecutive 7-day period,
be beyond their physical or psychological capacity;
involve unnecessarily long or unsocial hours;
not be possible to adapt to allow for a physical or mental limitation;
involve harmful exposure to agents which are toxic or carcinogenic, or which in any
other way chronically affect human health;
f) take place in Containment Level 3 laboratories;
g) involve extreme heat, noise or vibration;
h) involve exposure to radiation or radiation work areas
i) involve the risk of accidents which it may reasonably be assumed cannot be
recognised or avoided by young persons owing to insufficient attention to safety or lack
of experience or training;.
j) involve workshop machinery e.g. grinding wheels, lathes, cutting and drilling machines.
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unless ALL of the following apply:
the work is necessary for their training, e.g. apprenticeship
the work is properly supervised by a competent person; AND
the risks are reduced to the lowest level, so far as is reasonably practicable.
In general terms, Young Persons must not be left unattended to work with or around any
equipment or materials which could be considered to give rise to significant risk, and should be
supervised at all times during work activities.
6.0 Behaviours
This section cannot provide a complete checklist of what is, or is not appropriate
behaviour for adults in all circumstances, but aims to provide some clear guidance.
It is the responsibility of all adults to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young
persons, and any conduct which would lead any reasonable person to question their
motivation and intentions must be avoided.
During supervision of work experience you may have access to or be given highly sensitive or
private information. These details must be kept confidential at all times and only shared when
it is in interests of the child or young person to do so. Such information must not be used to
intimidate, humiliate, or embarrass the child or young person concerned. If you are in any
doubt about whether to share information or keep it confidential you should seek guidance
from a senior member of staff or nominated child protection person. Any actions should be in
line with locally agreed information sharing protocols.
Adults should also be circumspect in their communications with children or young persons in
order to avoid any possible misinterpretation of their motives or any behaviour which could be
construed as grooming. They should not give their personal contact details to children or
young persons including email and home or mobile telephone numbers, unless the need to do
so is agreed with senior management and parents/carers. Email and/or text communications
between an adult and a child or young person outside agreed protocols may lead to
disciplinary and/or criminal investigations. This also includes communications through Internet
based web sites.
If you are supervising a child or young person you should be aware that even well intentioned
physical contact may be misconstrued by the child, an observer or by anyone to whom this
action is described. Therefore:
•
•
•
never touch a child in a way which may be considered indecent or inappropriate
always be prepared to report and explain actions and accept that all physical
contact will be open to scrutiny
do not indulge in horseplay
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•
•
•
•
when physical contact is made with a child or young person this should be in
response to their needs at the time, of limited duration and appropriate to their
age, stage of development, gender, ethnicity and background. It is not possible
to be specific about the appropriateness of each physical contact, since an
action that is appropriate with one child or young person in one set of
circumstances may be inappropriate in another, or with a different child or
young person. Nevertheless, adults should use their professional judgement at
all times; observe and take note of the child or young person’s reaction or
feelings and – so far as is possible - use a level of contact and/or form of
communication which is acceptable to the child or young person for the
minimum time necessary.
physical contact should never be secretive, or for the gratification of the adult,
or represent a misuse of authority. If an adult believes that their action could be
misinterpreted, or if an action is observed by another as being inappropriate or
possibly abusive, the incident and circumstances should be reported to the
senior manager outlined in the procedures for handling allegations and an
appropriate record made.
always explain to a child or young person the reason why contact is necessary
and what form that contact will take.
where a child or young person seeks or initiates inappropriate physical contact
with an adult, the situation should be handled sensitively and care taken to
ensure that contact is not exploited in any way. Careful consideration must be
given to the needs of the child or young person and advice and support sought
by the adult concerned.
Adults working in one to one settings with children and young persons may also be more
vulnerable to unjust or unfounded allegations being made against them. Both possibilities
should be recognised so that when one to one situations are unavoidable, reasonable and
sensible precautions are taken. Every attempt should be made to ensure the safety and
security of children and young persons and the adults who work with them.
It is inappropriate for adults to offer lifts to a child or young person outside their normal working
duties, unless this has been brought to the attention of the line manager and has been agreed
with the parents/carers. It is probably sensible to only take a child or young person in your car
if there are two adults present.
Working with children and young persons may involve the taking or recording of images. Any
such work should take place with due regard to the law and the need to safeguard the privacy,
dignity, safety and well-being of children and young persons. Informed written consent from
parents or carers and agreement, where possible, from the child or young person, should
always be sought before an image is taken for any purpose.
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