Understand your school’s responsibilities
Both the contractor and your school have duties under health and safety law.
Contractors are not employed by your school, so you don’t have overall responsibility for health and safety in the same way you do for your staff. However, you do have a responsibility to:
- Select a suitable contractor with the right knowledge and skills to carry out the work safely
- Carry out your own risk assessment and let the contractor know your conclusions
- Provide relevant information and instruction to your staff, and let the contractor know about any risks from your own activities (for example, events you’re holding that might affect their work)
- Agree how you’re going to cooperate, communicate and coordinate with the contractor or their company
- Agree how you’ll manage and supervise the work
Read more about selecting contractors in the DfE guidance on good estate management