What Statutory Engineering Inspections Are Required For Schools?

Statutory inspections, also known as engineering inspections, are plant and machinery inspections which are required to comply with various statutory and regulatory requirements. Statutory inspections are required by law and are essential to ensuring the safety of your equipment and, in turn, protecting your staff, your pupils and any other visitors to your school.

Statutory inspections are separate to any servicing or maintenance that you need done and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommend they are not performed by the same person.

Maintaining the safety of your pupils, staff and visitors is of the utmost importance. If something goes wrong and there’s an accident involving plant or machinery, then the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is going to want to see your statutory inspection records to ensure that this accident was not something that could have been prevented.

To ensure you carry out all the engineering statutory inspections required for your school, we have compiled a list below of some of the key ones:

• Lifting equipment – It is imperative that all lifting equipment is always in good working order. This includes stair lifts, good lifts, dumbwaiters, cherry pickers, hoists and slings, vehicle lifting tables in a motor engineering workshop, lighting rigs in your theatre, etc. As part of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) all lifting equipment must be thoroughly examined on a regular basis.

• Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) – Every year, thousands of people in Great Britain die as a result of breathing in harmful dust and fumes at work. LEVs allow businesses to control dust and fumes. In schools, we would expect to see these systems in DT workshops, woodworking, welding, art departments etc. LEVs fall under Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) which state the system must be tested by a qualified person regularly.

• Pressure systems - Under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR 2000), all pressure systems that meet certain criteria require a statutory inspection. In schools, we often see pressure systems in the form of compressors, equipment in DT workshops and science departments, and in the canteen or teachers lounges.

• Electrical safety – This is a requirement under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 to ensure that all electrical systems and installations in commercial premises (and any on-site residential premises) are maintained in safe condition. This includes fixed installations within buildings – it is separate to PAT testing. Failure to check your wiring regularly increases the risk of electrical shocks, property damage or even fires.

• Gas safety – Gas appliances must be properly installed and maintained to reduce the risk of gas leaks, fire, explosions and even carbon monoxide poisoning. Gas Safety (Installations and Use) Regulations 1998 state that all gas appliance, installation, pipework, or flue installed at any place of work are maintained in a safe condition. A Gas Safe-registered engineer must perform an inspection periodically.

One of the main pitfalls inspectors see when visiting schools is that, following the inspection, the report gets filed away and none of the remedial actions are completed post-inspection. It is very important that when you get the inspections done, you read through the reports thoroughly and action any changes that are required, especially if they were scored as “unsatisfactory”. Not only will the HSE expect you to complete these, but so will your insurers and not doing so may cause your policy cover to become void.

Other issues often seen as culpability, is failure to provide all relevant items and, on the flip side, double paying for statutory inspections and having individual statutory inspections carried out for individual departments. Having a centralised approach to statutory inspections and the right systems in place can help make school audits easier to manage.

Our partners at Pearson Webb Consulting Ltd are experts in the provision of risk assessments and health and safety assessments and training.

Simply call  01438 739626 or email us to discuss your insurance and engineering statutory inspection needs.

If you’d like to learn more about statutory inspections, listen to the podcast here where Michelle Pearson and Adam Webb discuss everything you need to know about statutory engineering inspections in schools.