The financial turmoil South Africa faced late 2015, likely will have an impact on budget available to improve the educational institutions. School governing bodies and facilities managers are advised to be proactive and inspect the Health and Safety standards of their schools before classes have really gone underway.
If they wait doing so until later this year, they might end up in unwanted situations. It is expected that the 2016 school year will see many schools bursting at their seams. More learners than ever will be attending school while the pressure is on to provide high-quality education and proper facilities for as little as possible. The bleak outlook of the economy will, certainly, result in more families struggling with keeping up payments and school fees while university students have successfully demanded university fees to remain what they were the previous year.
The one thing that hasn't changed is the demand of quality and safe educational facilities. On the contrary; educational institutions are increasingly pressed to adopt the latest techniques and follow suit with society trends to educate our future generations and provide them a healthy and safe facilities. Expectations have even risen as well as parents, these days, rely on schools to assist them in educating and looking after children that goes beyond what historically was expected from schools.
With learners returning back to school in the coming weeks, it is advised to review the Risk Assessment and conduct a thorough inspection. Once the final number of learners for this year has been established, School Governing Bodies and facility managers will now exactly how many learners they have to accommodate and what the implications will be for this year, and the years after. It is advised to conduct such inspections with the presence of a Health and Safety specialist.
Determining risk does take skills, but being able to identify possible risks and extrapolate the impact to what could result in the future is something that goes beyond 'knowledge' or 'experience'. That is something that requires constant education, knowledge about the legislation that is being considered and experience and how society develops.
With risks having been inspected, all parties involved will have a better picture of where they stand and how things will evolve in the near as well as distant future. They will also be much better to anticipate and take mitigating action with the guidance of an experienced Health and Safety professional.
MAKROSAFE Health and Safety consultants have been closely monitoring the developments with regards to educational facilities in South Africa. When it comes to providing a healthy and safe environment of the most precious asset of many parents, schools cannot afford to take shortcuts or ignore possible risks. Being able to provide such healthy and safe environment doesn't necessarily have to cost an arm and a leg. By having your facilities inspected by professionals, the baseline can be determined and a plan of action can be drafted before you swing into action.
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