Motion 67 Protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of school staff

Merged into composite 14

Congress asserts that all workers should be protected from unsustainable expectations, foreseeable health and safety risks, and from violence and aggression in the workplace. It is unacceptable that thousands of school staff face these harms every day.

Congress calls on the UK and devolved governments to:

i. provide additional funding for schools to enable

ii. safe, healthy and sustainable working environments for staff whose safety and wellbeing are put at risk daily due to insufficient resourcing; and

iii. increase capital investment in school buildings and facilities, to make them safer places for all, within this parliamentary session and beyond. Urgently, capital investment must enable the installation of HEPA filters, ensuring at least four air changes per hour in all indoor learning spaces, and provide that no school in the UK has asbestos or RAAC within its fabric.

Congress further calls on the UK and devolved governments to work with recognised unions to:

a. ensure that all employers of school staff proactively exercise their statutory duty of care and take tangible, proactive steps to improve their health, safety and wellbeing, taking action before harm occurs

b. ensure greater use of risk assessments in schools, with bespoke risk assessments for every classroom, covering all significant potential hazards and ensuring the implementation of appropriate mitigations

c. reduce the workload of school staff, including by providing the requisite resources to effectively respond to all pupils’ needs in respect of learning and wellbeing, including those with additional support needs.

Educational Institute of Scotland

AMENDMENT

In bullet point iii., add “and resilient to the impacts of climate change” between “all” and “within”, and replace “four” with “six”.
In bullet point b., between “schools,” and “with” insert: “including those seeking to protect staff from risks to mental health arising from the inspection and other high stakes accountability processes”
National Education Union