Legal Basis
The implementation of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, which allows teachers to search pupils for weapons, should assist schools with mitigating the risk of gang related and targeted violence incidents.
Also the Education and Inspection Act 2006 giving teachers powers to use force to prevent disruptive and violent behaviour should have an impact on school discipline, by empowering teachers to maintain control of challenging situations.
Additionally, the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 set a clear mandate for organisations to conduct a thorough assessment of risk to the health and safety of employees whilst they are at work. Subsequently organisations must provide adequate training to mitigate the identified risks.
This training must be adapted to take account of any new or changed risks to the health and safety of the employees concerned. The effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures are also mandatory. All these measures could be achieved by employing the findings of the Betaris Threat Vulnerability Assessment and Incident Management Procedures and training, which would also help managers avoid charges relating to vicarious liability.
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 also sets a clear mandate for public authorities to develop Incident Management Procedures and Government Guidance offers a six stage process to achieve compliance:
Anticipation - Assessment - Prevention - Preparedness - Response - Recovery
At Betaris we have incorporated this six step process into our three phases;
Resilience - Response - Recovery