This policy is intended to supplement the Health and Safety policies as set out due to the use of Claygate House as a training facility:
- GVG Health and Safety Policy Statement, a signed copy of which is held at GVG’s Head Office.
- GVG Health and Safety Policy (copy available on request)
- GVG Health and Safety Manual (copy available on request)
All apprentices should receive a health and safety induction in their workplace as part of their employee induction when changes occur or annually as required. Health and safety is included in the course induction when they start college. This policy has been written to meet the additional requirements of running apprenticeship programmes. The documents listed above apply to any apprentice / Learner in the care of GVNC. The additional requirements which are not covered in the documents listed above, are set out below:
Apprentices in Care
All apprentices will have a detailed health and safety induction during their college induction. This will cover this policy, the GVG Health and Safety Handbook, which is accessed via our intranet and the GVG Health and Safety Policy Statement. These documents, plus the GVG Health and Safety Policy will cover all apprentices in the care of GVNC.
Lines of Responsibility for Health and Safety
The tutor team are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of apprentices / Learners with the support of the Health and Safety Officer Claire Digby- Maloney. This is overseen and ongoing risk assessment is conducted by the Head of Centre and the College Principal. Overall responsibility for health and safety within GVG building lies with the MD, Mark Gill.
Identification of Risks
Risks are identified according to the GVNC Health and Safety Policy and Policy Statement. These are assessed by the tutor team and Head of Centre. The tutor team are all experienced Registered Veterinary Nurses with many years of vocational experience, and all have a GVG health and safety induction, which means that they are familiar with potential risks which occur throughout the learner’s training, and that they are able to identify and minimise these risks. Health and safety is on the agenda at monthly teaching and training meetings and is fully discussed, with risks being identified and action plans formed and implemented to manage them.
The training suite is inspected regularly by the GVG Fire Safety Officer and the Health and Safety Officer is the Fire Marshall for the training suite.
Arrangements in Place for Managing Key Risks
Risk assessments form a key element of managing risks, along with staff training and awareness. These are completed whenever necessary, for example, when taking learners on an educational visit. All staff are across the risk assessments and learners are briefed prior to the visit.
Risk Assessment can be found in all teaching areas and are specific to GVNC.
Procedure for Accident or Ill Health of Apprentice
There are trained first aiders available at the college centre, including over 70% of the GVNC team. In the event of an accident or illness of an apprentice / Learner, a first aider will be called to attend.
The tutor team are aware of their duty of care to apprentices / Learners and will seek medical help as required in the case of an accident or illness. If it is necessary for an apprentice / Learner to attend hospital, a tutor will accompany. Those with ongoing medical needs are risk assessed and a plan added to their individual file. A first aid information box is held in the teaching room and contains details of higher risk students’ medical needs, what to do in an emergency and next of kin details. This information is kept secure though available for when the individual is in centre. Tutors are briefed on high-risk individuals, and a first aid mobile phone is kept on the first aider for use in an emergency.
Where part of the learning takes place in an environment outside the direct control of the GVNC, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that adequate arrangements are in place to ensure the health and safety of apprentices / learners. GVNC carries out regular workplace visits to all employers and part of this process is to make sure that employers are meeting the requirements of health and safety and that they are supported in doing this for their apprentices.
Apprentices are required to report any illnesses or accidents which may affect completion of their OTJ or their work in their employers practice to a member of the tutor team. Apprentices are required to inform a member of the tutor team if they are unable to attend scheduled OTJ training sessions due to ill health or an accident before the time at which the OTJ training session is scheduled to start. GVNC have a well understood procedure for apprentices / Learners to report accidents and illness which is covered in induction and in the student policy handbook.
If an apprentice has any accidents or illness during OTJ training, they are required to alert a member of the tutor team immediately. The tutor team are trained to respond accordingly, as per the GVNC Policies.
If an apprentice has any accidents or illness whilst they are in the workplace, they are required to alert a senior member of staff in the workplace immediately, who will act appropriately. The apprentice is required to alert a member of the tutor team as soon as possible, and the employer is also required to alert their visiting officer and Head of Centre at GVNC to discuss the situation if the apprentice is unable to do so or if the employer has any specific concerns which GVNC need to be aware of or if GVNC needs to form an action plan following the accident/ illness.
The college maintains current emergency contact numbers for all learners on the learner database, and these are checked and updated every six months. It is protocol for a tutor to contact the learner’s next of kin in the event of a major accident or illness which renders the learner unable to do this themselves.
Medical information is also stored in the learner database, for example allergies and ongoing medical conditions which learners have disclosed on their application forms. By disclosing this information, they consent to it being passed to a medical professional in an emergency.
The tutor team are all trained using an online programme which is specific to the veterinary industry in relation to the health and safety requirements of the apprenticeship and this training is updated and logged by GVG on an ongoing basis. Training of the tutor team includes the responsibility of GVNC as an apprenticeship provider to inform the Department of Education of the death of any apprentice which is a result of work undertaken whilst in employment whilst they are undertaking an employment programme. The Training Manager takes overall responsibility for this. Accidents are recorded in the accident book, as per the GVG Health and Safety Policy requirements.
GVNC will Cooperate with the Department for Work and Pensions for the purposes of the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) in respect to those Apprentices to which it applies and the Training Manager will take overall responsibility for this.