Dear Colleague,
The H&S Team and Safeguarding Leads have updated our internal and external audit criteria for Safeguarding which has been approved by SEG to communicate to all of you. The link for the criteria is above and will form part of all internal and external audits undertaken by the H&S Team going forward.
High Handles & Mag Locks Guidance:
We have concerns at the level of the above which have been installed across the Trust, our issue is fire, and the safeguarding rational for their installation. Consequently, the Estates Team will be undertaking a survey of the location of all high handles/mag locks so that we can consider the implication of the installation.
Please note: if it is found that there is no justification for the installation or there is an evacuation risk resulting from a high handle this will be removed i.e. in a room where the door with the high handle is the only way out, in some cases we will have to leave the handle in place for the fire integrity of the door but will remove the mechanism.
Moving forward all requests for High Handles or Mag Locks must be requested via the Project Request Form thus enabling the Safeguarding and H&S team to assess the evidence for the request.
The evidence will be based on the number of:
- Incidents recorded on the Violence & Incident Form
- Number of AssessNet incidents logged (This is Near Miss Incidents where a pupil has tried to leave the building)
- Number of My Concern logs
- Risk of accessing public areas
- Recommendations by the Inclusion Team
Once the above criteria have been assessed a decision will be given for the installation and advised via the Project Request Form. (The link can be found in the Staff Hub under Estates Team)
Kind regards,
Julie
Julie Brooks
Health, Safety & General Operations Manager
Aspire Academy Trust
Mobile: 07736 470307