🔍 HSE School Inspections Imminent!!!

OFSTED Inspection

In recent years, many school leaders have associated their overall compliance and safety performance with their Ofsted rating. However, recent updates to the inspection regime have changed the landscape significantly — and it’s critical that schools understand who is now truly assessing safety.

🚫 Ofsted’s Reduced Focus on Health & Safety

As of 2024/2025, Ofsted has scaled back its emphasis on health and safety compliance during routine inspections. While safeguarding, curriculum quality, and leadership remain key components of their framework, building safety, fire risk, and site compliance are no longer a priority for Ofsted inspectors.

In practice, this means that Ofsted inspections will not always identify critical safety risks, such as:

• Inadequate fire precautions

• Unsafe traffic and pedestrian management

• Poorly maintained buildings or playgrounds

• Legionella, asbestos, or contractor compliance

Many schools mistakenly assume a 'Good' or 'Outstanding' Ofsted report means all is well across the board — but from a health and safety legal standpoint, this is not the case.

🏫 The HSE is Watching

Due to this change, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has become increasingly active in inspecting schools across the UK. These inspections are unannounced, and often triggered by:

• Whistleblowing (from staff or parents)

• Serious incidents or accidents

• Data submitted to RIDDOR

• Concerns about asbestos or fire safety

Unlike Ofsted, the HSE has enforcement powers, including issuing improvement and prohibition notices, or even prosecuting schools and academy trusts in severe cases.

Schools must have the basic legal requirements in place:-

• Named Competent Person

• Annual Health and Safety Audit

• Annual Fire Risk Assessment

• Ongoing Safety Strategy

• Policies, Procedures and Risk Assessments

• Health and Safety Training

• Maintenance

🛡️ Introducing Our School Safety Audit

At Armadillo Safety Solutions, we offer a specialist School Safety Audit designed specifically to address the areas no longer covered by Ofsted but scrutinised by the HSE.

Our audit includes a comprehensive review of:

• Health & safety policies, risk assessments, and staff responsibilities

• Site safety including traffic management, security, and contractor controls

• Fire safety arrangements, drills, and evacuation planning

• Premises management including asbestos, water hygiene, and maintenance schedules

• Staff training, roles, and responsibilities

You’ll receive a clear action plan, guidance on improvements, and evidence to show your governors and trust board that safety is being actively managed.

✅ This audit supports compliance with:

• The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

• The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014

• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Compliance Documentation

🤖 Stay on Track with ComplianceBot

To make managing ongoing safety compliance easier, we’ve also developed ComplianceBot — an AI-powered platform that helps schools to develop documentation, but simply typing one or two words. We have the following document bots:-

• Policy's

• Safe System of Works

• Risk Assessments

• Method Statements

• COSHH Assessments

• Toolbox Talks

• AI Safety Advice - just ask it a question

• PDF Interrogator, as the bot to respond to information in a PDF document.

Whether you manage one school or an entire MAT, ComplianceBot can scale with you and reduce admin time while increasing legal compliance.

👣 Next Steps

If you haven’t already:

1. Book your School Safety Audit to ensure you’re compliant with current HSE expectations.

2. Explore ComplianceBot and start simplifying your compliance management today.

📩 Questions? We’re happy to talk you through what an HSE inspection involves and how we can help your school feel confident and protected.