Otago and Southland school principals have expressed concern about what will happen under the Government's Health and Safety Reform Bill if an accident occurs on school grounds.
Until the first principal is tried in a New Zealand court, uncertainty will surround the extent to which principals will be liable if such an accident happens.
Ministry of Education sector enablement and support head Katrina Casey said the new legislation would take effect from April 4 next year and the ministry had ''a full range of information'' going out to schools well before then, with guidance and resources available by the end of this year.
''These will include templates for sample procedures and policies, including a range of checklists.''
Ms Casey said fact sheets would be available to schools this month and the ministry had launched a dedicated health and safety webspace.
''Since July 1, we have had over 27,000 views to date, including our presentation, with speaking notes, being downloaded over 1300 times.
''We're working closely with the education sector to ensure we get them the information that is most useful to them.''
The ministry had hosted and spoken at 34 workshops across the country for schools and sector groups on the new legislation, with about 1100 education sector representatives participating, she said.
The New Zealand School Trustees' Association, New Zealand Educational Institute and the Post Primary Teachers' Association would roll out workshops for their members leading up to April next year, she said.
More information is available on: www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-initiatives/health-...
