15 safety rules every school should implement | EduCeleb
Abdussalam Amoo
19th February 2018
Let’s talk about safety. You own a school or probably administer one. Perhaps, you are a teacher in another educational institution. Safety rules are essential in every school and should be implemented.
Safety used to be considered as the responsibility of organisations engaged in ‘hazardous’ activities like road transportation, oil exploration, extraction and mining, and construction. But it has expanded to us having the expression “safety is the responsibility of all”.
We live in an age where there are increasing cases of safety and security threats to our schools. Reports of robbery, kidnapping, rape, sexual harassment, fire incidences, diseases and building collapses bring the issue to the front burner.
So, the safety of members of the school community is very important. Teachers, students and administrators of schools all have roles to play in ensuring that our schools are safe for all. In this article, EduCeleb.com briefly discuses some safety rules needed to be implemented in various areas in the school environment.
Members of the school community should endeavor to walk rather than run while using the stairways, corridors and classrooms. Whatever you are rushing for should not cause you or others some injury. In the process of running, you may fall, collide with someone else or get yourself or someone else injured.
There may be this tendency to push or shove aside someone walking slowly before you. Be careful not to do so. The other person may lose balance when you push them and get injured. Such an act may even lead to a fight between you two. If you have to move slowly, be careful not to impede other people’s movement when doing so.
Students and staff should be encouraged to preferably keep to the right while walking on the corridors or stairways within the school building structure. By walking on the right, the individual is able avoid possible head on collision with others coming from the opposite direction.
The stairways shouldn’t be turned into playing grounds where people jump. A student fond of jumping the stairs should be warned against such in order to prevent accidents. They may possibly slip in the process and have some accident.
In the event that one slips on the stairs, the person should be walking close to the handrail to be able to maintain balance and prevent the possibility of slipping. This also means that the handrail is an essential part of the staircase and walkway that the school management must ensure is safe for use.
Movement within the classroom or cloakroom shouldn’t be hindered at any time. So, every material that could be injurious to the next person should not be found there. Seat should be orderly arranged. Keep clothing materials, lab equipment, umbrellas and other things out of the way.
While sitting in the classroom, you shouldn’t keep your feet along the aisles at any time. Students should be taught that as they unconsciously keep their feet along the aisles, someone may just slip and get injured. This should equally apply to passage rows and entrances.
Once you are not using some materials in any part of the school environment, keep them away. For the safety of all, every item not in use and not kept where it should be could be injurious to the owner or others. If you have a school laboratory where certain liquid and gas are in use or a farm where students use cutlasses and hoe, keep such things away from where they are likely to be injurious to others when not in use.
Every student should be warned against using equipment without authorisation. It should only with the permission of the teacher or instructor that experiments with chemicals in the laboratory are carried out by students. You should only use the equipment if you have the competence about its usage.
Certain locations within the school may be meant for authorized personnel only. Perhaps, there is an alternative electricity facility or heavy equipment vault within the school premises. No student or teacher should be found in such places.
There would be times when you need to use certain objects in school. Use them with care. Carry pens, pencils and other sharp objects down and be protected. Moving around with a sharp object could be injurious where care is not taken.
The use of safety equipment is necessary for the user’s safety. Appropriateness of safety equipment is depending on what the individual is doing and where it is. In the laboratory, for example, students and teachers would need protective clothing, helmets, goggles or other garments dedicated to protect persons from injury or infection.
Encourage students and staff members to conscious of reporting cases of damaged equipment. Broken seats, desks and other damaged equipment could be injurious to people. So, they should be taken away for repairs when they are damaged.
Students and staff members should be prepared in case of emergencies. The school manager should ensure that there is provision for emergency exit and fire escapes within the school structure. Possibly, narrow paths should be widened to ensure easier passage for all. The designated emergency exit points should be clearly marked too. A few moments of drills on using this would make students and staff members prepared in case of emergency.
Every school manager would have a set of rules of proper conduct designed. At times, some safety threats may emanate from the conduct of students or teachers towards one another. An expensive joke may be too expensive to wish away. This may lead to fight among different parties and threaten people’s safety. Disciplining fighting parties based on the school rules and regulations would definitely serve as a deterrent to others. Thus, no room should be given to rule breakers. Their disregard for rules may put other members of the school community in danger.
What are your thoughts about safety rules in schools? Let’s know by using the comment box below.