Safety is when one is free of fear or physical danger. For there to be a smooth running of events in any learning institution safety must be guaranteed to both teaching and non-teaching staffs. Safety in school allows learners to look forward to being in an encouraging environment that promotes social and creative learning. When learners’ basic safety needs are not met, they are at risk of not feeling comfortable at school and they may stop showing up, or they may remain on edge throughout the day. Therefore, promoting school safety creates an open space for learners to explore, learn and grow.
It’s, therefore, the duty and a legal requirement of the school management to ensure that there is safety in a learning institution. Safety is important and needs to be approached creatively and should not be simply another legal burden or bureaucratic chore. A planned approach to managing risk should be an enabler, not just to prevent accidents and work-related health problems to both staff and pupils but to build a culture of sensible risk management, linked to a curriculum where teaching young people can develop their capability to assess and manage risk.
The management can ensure that this is achieved by doing the following;
The school management must ensure that the students and other employees are familiar with key hazards and risks and vital processes for controlling. The risk is part of life, but accidents do not need to be, so while schools need to make sure staff, pupils and visitors are safe, they also need to make sure that, as the citizens of tomorrow, pupils are helped to become risk aware without becoming unnecessarily risk-averse. In this sense ‘teaching safely’ and ‘teaching safety’ need to go hand in hand.
The school management also should ensure that all students and workers are familiar with emergency, evacuation procedures and the location of first aid kits. Also, the management must ensure that there is safety personnel with safety equipment who are appropriately trained to use emergency equipment in case of an accident.
The school management must also ensure that consultative forums about health and safety are established. For example, the school management can liaise with the ministry of health by inviting some of the stakeholders in the health ministry like the Red Cross organization, or any other organization to come and offer a public lecture about safety.
The school management should strive to instill a responsible attitude to safety among the learners and employees. This will not only act as a motivator internally amongst staff and students, who will be reassured that their well-being is of paramount interest, it will also serve to attract new talent. And it also provides a very practical platform for teaching young people how to stay safe by becoming risk aware but not risk averse citizens of tomorrow.
The school management must provide safety for the teaching staff. This is done by providing housing for the teaching staff, security of tenure and pension. When their safety needs are met they will perform their duties with effectiveness and motivation.
The school management should hire persons trained as security officers who would be utilized where necessary. The school administrators should liaise with the police where security challenges requiring their intervention arise.
The school management should encourage the formation of security club in the school. A club where ideas and discussion on security will be the focus. With the news of terrorism all over the world, these days, it is needful to form a security club in the school.
