General health and safety legislation
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a general duty on the employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its staff and pupils. This means that it is the employer’s responsibility to put such arrangements in place with regard to class size in practical lessons to ensure that the risk of harm be properly controlled, a process which should be done by means of a suitable risk assessment – as required by the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999.
A thorough risk assessment on class size in practical subjects will determine the available space, equipment, furniture, activities and pupil characteristics, and from thence the appropriate staffing levels and maximum pupil numbers. A risk assessment will entail a careful examination of hazards likely to exist, an assessment of whether the particular hazards are likely to harm anyone and what precautions need to be taken. Employers have specific legal duties to carry out risk assessments for all areas of workplace health and safety, and to appoint a ‘competent’ person or persons to carry them out.
If the rooms are so designed that, as the teacher circulates within the work area, a clear view cannot be obtained of all working situations, it will be necessary to reduce the size of classes. Supervision in work areas is complicated by the fact that the teacher will occasionally need to obtain materials or equipment from the store, where direct visual contact is very likely to be impossible.
Inexperienced teachers need time and support in order to develop the demanding skills required for the successful delivery of practical lessons. A suitable ‘cap’ should be placed on pupil numbers in practical classes taken by less experienced teachers.
Where pupils clearly possess good self-motivation, capacity for forethought, anticipation of hazards and a ready understanding of advice and instruction, it is often possible for them to be taught safely in groups of ‘official’ size (see specifications in guidance quoted below).
Decisions on class sizes might be influenced where appropriate support staff can be timetabled to assist during the course of practical sessions, for example with some aspects of equipment use and the collection of materials from stores and elsewhere.