Concerns about lack of social distancing in staffrooms and ventilation in school buildings have been flagged up by Health and Safety Executive inspectors, it has emerged.
The HSE also highlighted the cleaning regime in some schools as “common areas of concern” following site visits.
The HSE and the Department for Education updated some of their safety guidance for schools after carrying out more than 1,000 follow-up site inspections last term, following checks to establish schools’ understanding of safety guidance and what it meant to be Covid-secure
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Nearly all schools the HSE visited had followed the Department for Education guidelines on being Covid-secure and the vast majority had understood what was expected, it said.
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Formal intervention was needed in less than 1 per cent of schools visited for contravention of health and safety rules, and in “around 80 per cent of cases” schools had a good grasp of the guidelines, said the HSE.
As Tes revealed last year, the HSE has been carrying out checks on schools over Covid measures.
It carried out more than 1,000 site inspections on schools last term where it was “less certain” that they had a good understanding of government guidelines on being Covid-secure.
A bulletin sent to schools by the DfE reveals that 5,000 schools have been contacted. The DfE bulletin says that the inspections “showed that nearly all the schools had implemented Covid-secure measures in accordance with government guidelines”.
It says no further action was taken in more than half of the schools visited, and for most of the remaining inspections, only minor issues were found that required verbal advice.
The bulletin adds: “Less than 1 per cent of inspections identified contraventions of health and safety, requiring formal interventions and improvement.
“Inspectors did find some common areas of concern. These included social distancing in staffrooms, kitchens and canteens, cleaning regimes, and ventilation in school buildings.”
Tes revealed in September that the HSE would be calling on schools to check on risk assessments, and that if any concerns were raised it may carry out a visit to the school site.
We also reported on headteachers’ concerns that the initial Covid-19 safety check calls to schools by the HSE were being carried out by a private company.
Tes revealed that the calls to English schools were contracted out to Civica.
