CPD taster - Leading health and safety in your science department

This is a CPD taster created to give teachers a better understanding of what to expect when joining one of our secondary science leadership courses. Below you will find a video and a task for you to do in your own time. Once you have done the activity, book on to Leading health and safety in your science department (RX018).

If you are a head of department, you will need to be able to plan for and implement effective health and safety measures in all practical work. In this video, Mark Langley introduces the importance of planning as part of your approach to effective health and safety.

The task here asks you to complete a simple checklist to review what’s in your lab or prep room at school or in one that you have visited during training. The purpose of this task is to get you thinking about what’s already in place and the potential health and safety impacts. A simple audit of your current work space should help start discussions about what’s missing and help you to identify areas for improvement.

Task: Health and safety working space checklist

1. Download the health and safety working space checklist [PDF]. 
2. Select a work space to review in your school or college; this could be a lab, prep room or chemical store.
3. Review the items on the checklist and note down on what’s in place or what’s missing within your chosen workspace.
4. Identify areas for development and, if possible, discuss these with your team or colleagues within your school or college.

Next steps

Book your place on Leading health and safety in your science department (RX018).

We also provide CPD courses relevant to specific roles. Book onto RX019 Health and Safety for NQTs in science, RX023 Technicians: Health and Safety or our face-to-face course NY253 Health and safety for science departments.