What Should an Academy Trust Health and Safety Policy Include?

Every academy trust should have a clear health and safety policy that sets out responsibilities, management arrangements and expectations across all schools within the trust.

A well-written policy provides consistency while allowing individual schools to implement local procedures appropriate to their premises.

Who is responsible?

The Academy Trust is the employer and therefore holds the primary legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Trustees provide strategic oversight, while executive leaders, headteachers and local school leaders manage day-to-day implementation.

What should the policy include?

A comprehensive policy should cover:

• Statement of Intent
• Organisation and Responsibilities
• Risk Assessment
• Fire Safety
• First Aid
• Educational Visits
• Contractor Management
• Premises Compliance
• Accident Reporting
• Emergency Procedures
• Staff Training
• Monitoring and Review

How often should the policy be reviewed?

Policies should normally be reviewed annually or sooner where significant organisational or legislative changes occur.

Large academy trusts should ensure individual schools understand how trust-wide arrangements apply locally.

Common mistakes

• Generic policies that are never updated.
• Responsibilities not clearly allocated.
• Procedures differing significantly between schools.
• No evidence of monitoring or review.

How SchoolSafe Systems Helps

SchoolSafe Systems offers compliance support for academy trusts — reviewing health and safety policies, strengthening governance arrangements and providing independent compliance reviews that offer assurance across multiple schools.