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HSE Press Release: E022:05 - 20 February 2005

HSE to publish web report of school activity tragedy to share the lessons learnt

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced today that it plans to publish a web report on the drowning of a 10 year-old boy during a school activity weekend in the Lake District in 2002. HSE believes very strongly in the educational value of school trips; it is publishing the report to communicate the lessons learnt and provide practical advice to those who have a role in organising educational visits.

The extensive investigation of this tragedy at Glenridding Beck by HSE and Cumbria Police revealed many important lessons for both those who lead educational visits and those involved in their management. There is a consensus in the educational and outdoor worlds, which HSE supports, that these lessons should be made widely known.

There is also an extensive debate on the future of educational visits. HSE wants to inform that debate. HSE believes the risk involved in such activities can be properly controlled without losing the sense of adventure.

Lancashire County Council has made a substantial contribution to the report, particularly on the role of Local Education Authorities (LEAs), head teachers and governors in the effective management of educational visits.

Key messages include:

• educational visits are of immense value to children’s development and should continue
• such visits are particularly valuable when the opportunity is taken to involve the young people in practical decision-making so that they can learn to make risk-based judgements (i.e. they become “risk aware” rather than “risk averse”)
• conscientious teachers who follow the existing guidance published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) should have no problem in running safe and rewarding visits
• guidance on the important questions that parents and others may wish to ask prior to a trip will be included in the HSE web report

There are a number of lessons arising from this incident which cover the roles of LEAs, head teachers, governers and leaders. The main learning points are that:

• leaders of these activities need to be competent, diligent and should always put the safety and best interests of the young people first
• they should always follow the DfES guidance on educational visits, which can be downloaded free from its website
• schools and providers of outdoor education/adventure activities need to have effective management systems in place to ensure that leaders taking young people into hazardous environments are properly selected and supported
• effective arrangements for assessing and ensuring competence and for monitoring leaders should be in place

Many of the lessons are also applicable to leaders and managers from other bodies, such as youth organisations and independent schools.

HSE Deputy Director General Justin McCracken said, “HSE believes that school trips are a vital part of a child's education. It would be a sad day if misplaced risk aversion deprived them of such opportunities. On the contrary, adventure activities provide the ideal opportunity to make children ‘risk aware’ by involving them in practical decision-making in challenging environments.

“HSE’s views (and its recommendations following its investigation of the Glennridding tragedy) mirror those of the Commons Education Select Committee. HSE will continue to champion the message that sensible health and safety is about managing risk rather than eliminating it.

“We applaud those teachers and helpers who give their time and energy to follow best practice and do the job safely and properly. Long may well-planned educational visits continue."

HSE plans to launch the web-based report on 9 March 2005 at http://www.hse.gov.uk/schooltrips . A further announcement will be made then. The full report will also be accessible from other sites, including the DfES ‘Teacher-net’ and ‘Governor-net’ websites.

Notes to Editors

1. The tragedy occurred on 26 May 2002 when a 10-year-old boy, Max Palmer was drowned while taking part in an activity called “plunge pooling” in Glenridding Beck in the Lake District. His mother, who jumped in to rescue him, suffered from hypothermia and was airlifted to hospital.

2. In September 2003, the teacher leading the visit pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed for one year.

3. In July 2004 HSE announced that following a lengthy and detailed investigation of the role of the LEA, Lancashire County Council (LCC), in the tragedy the decision had been taken not to prosecute LCC.

4. The DfES guidance on health and safety on educational visits is available at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/healthandsafety/visits/

Public enquiries

Call HSE's Infoline, tel: 0845 345 0055, visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact or write to: HSE InfoLine, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG

Press enquiries

Journalists only: Ray Allger 020 7717 6179 Out of hours 020 7928 8382