Professional Practice Placements

Background

(Updated June 2010)

 A number of Departments and Schools place students off campus as part of a taught course in a wide section of employment. Examples are Physiotherapy students, nurses and midwives, social workers and chemists, etc.

The University has legal responsibilities for both employees and non-employees. These duties cannot be delegated to a host employer and account must be taken of their capabilities to manage health and safety issues when entrusting students to them.

These procedures enable the University through its Departments and Schools to discharge its statutory duties and to reduce the likelihood of students suffering harm through the use of reasonable precautions.

The procedures adopted by the University are modelled on guidance contained in the UCEA/CVCP document 'Health and Safety Guidance for the Placement of HE Students' which can be downloaded from the UCEA website here.

It is likely in the event of any legal proceedings that this guidance will be used by the Health and Safety Executive or any Plaintiff as a benchmark standard.

Health and Safety procedures for Professional Practice Placements

Glossary of Terms

Ensuring healthy and safe placements relies on a close co-operation between five key players:

  • Universities
  • Employers
  • Placement organisers
  • Visiting tutors
  • Participating students

The terms below will have the following meanings:

UNIVERSITY is any institution of higher education at which students are enrolled for the period of the placement

PLACEMENT is a period of paid or unpaid work experience in UK industry and commerce undertaken as an integral part of the student's course

EMPLOYERS are persons, partnerships, companies or organisations providing placements

PLACEMENT ORGANISERS arrange and/or approve placements on behalf of universities and they may or may not act as visiting tutors

VISITING TUTORS are individuals employed by, or contracted to, the University, who visit the students on placements and

STUDENT is any individual who is enrolled on a University course.

Procedures

The Placements - Summary of Actions Flowchart represents the steps to be taken by the placement organiser within each Department or School. Only one sequence is necessary no matter how many students are employed by a particular employer, although the process should be repeated yearly.

It should be noted that a Record of this procedure must be maintained. See Placement Procedure Record.

Step 1 Placement Identification and Approval

When a potential placement employer has been identified the placement organiser should send them Placement Employer letter and a Placement Health and Safety Checklist. The checklist is designed that a 'Yes' reply to a question signifies approval and so if all are so answered then no further enquiry is required. Health and safety briefing and enrolment can then proceed as below.

If there is a 'no' response then further careful consideration will be necessary before students are given authority to commence work.

Step 2 Health and Safety Briefing and Enrolment

Before employment each student must attend a health and safety briefing with the placement organiser or visiting tutor at which an Approval of Placement document must be given to each student.  The student must also be provided with Guidance Notes for Student Placements which forms the foundation of the health and safety briefing. Students should also be given a Student Induction Checklist, which records their induction with their employer. Students should be encouraged to inform their placement organiser of any items not covered within one week.

Step 3 Review by Visiting Tutor

After enrolment by the student it is essential that visits should be made by a visiting tutor at appropriate frequencies as part of the review process. This gives the visiting tutor the opportunity to observe health and safety in practice and to meet with students. The dates should be properly recorded.

Although visiting tutors do not need to be trained safety experts they should be a professional in the particular or associated discipline. Training in health and safety can be provided by the Health and Safety Unit when deemed necessary by the Head of Department or School

Step 4 Feedback

Reaction to any feedback from students should be promptly resolved and properly recorded.

If any situation cannot be resolved then the University should give in writing the reasons for withdrawal of approval for that placement to both the student and the employer. It may be necessary to reconsider approval for other placements that may be affected by that decision. Further guidance and advice can be obtained from the University Health and Safety Adviser.

Training

Every relevant Department and School should have a member of staff trained in these procedures. The Department of Occupational Health and Safety can provide training in these procedures.

Useful Documents

UCEA Health and Safety Guidance for the placement of Higher Education students - 26/08/2009