Health and Safety Audit and Action Plan

Evaluating health and safety provision requires systematic review of policies, procedures, premises and practice. This pack provides editable tools to help headteachers, school business managers, H&S leads and premises managers assess compliance with confidence and create a clear action plan that meets legal requirements whilst creating a genuinely safe environment.

Inside, you'll find:

☑️ 28-page health and safety audit document – your core self-evaluation tool, with reflective prompts and structured questions across 16 key areas of health and safety provision. Each section includes space to capture your current position, identify where you want to be, and note supporting evidence. The 16 sections are:

• Monitoring of Health and Safety
• Policies and Procedures
• Risk Assessment and Accident Reporting
• Maintaining Cleanliness
• Access Arrangements and External Areas
• School Buildings - Internal and External
• Kitchen and Hazardous Substances
• Electrical Equipment, Oil and Gas, Heating and Lighting
• Bathrooms, Plumbing and Water
• Swimming Pool
• Security
• Lettings and Contractors
• First Aid and Medications
• Fire Safety
• Staff Training
• Crisis Management

Each section ends with a reflective summary where you can identify your provision's current developmental stage and capture key priorities for action.

☑️ 7-page health and safety audit guidance document – step-by-step instructions on planning and conducting your audit, including advice on who to involve, what constitutes good practice in H&S compliance, and how to use your findings to inform school improvement planning and risk management.

☑️ Health and safety action plan template – helps you turn audit findings into prioritised, time-bound actions with clear ownership and measurable outcomes, ensuring H&S concerns are addressed systematically and accountability is clear.

All resources come in fully editable Word format apart from the PDF guidance, so you can adapt them for your school's specific context, whether you're a small primary, large secondary or special school.

This pack is designed for headteachers, school business managers, H&S leads, premises managers, and site managers who are responsible for evaluating and maintaining health and safety standards across the school.

It's particularly valuable if you're responding to H&S concerns raised by staff or governors, new to your role and wanting to understand the school's current H&S provision, or simply want to take a systematic approach to reviewing compliance.

MAT leaders, trust executives and H&S link governors will also find this useful when scrutinising how effectively the school manages health and safety risks and meets its legal duties to protect pupils, staff and visitors.

This audit is essential if you're developing a new H&S policy, implementing changes to premises or procedures, responding to an accident or near-miss incident, or reviewing provision following external H&S advice or inspections.

This comprehensive pack helps you tackle the most common challenges leaders face when auditing health and safety:

"How do I know if our H&S provision is good enough?"
The 28-page audit tool covers every aspect of provision – from fire safety and first aid through to premises maintenance, security and crisis management – giving you a clear picture of strengths and gaps.

"What are our legal H&S duties and what does good practice look like?"
The guidance document explains what effective H&S management looks like and helps you understand the standards you should be working towards, particularly useful for those new to H&S leadership.

"Where do I even start with such a broad area?"
The audit breaks H&S into 16 manageable sections with clear questions and evidence prompts, allowing you to work through the audit at your own pace without feeling overwhelmed.

"How can I turn findings into meaningful action?"
The action plan template structures your findings into prioritised, time-bound actions with clear ownership, making it easier to drive improvement systematically rather than reactively responding to incidents.

"How do I ensure accountability for H&S improvements?"
The action plan clearly assigns responsibility for each action, with timescales and review dates, ensuring H&S isn't just one person's job but is owned across the leadership team.

If you're working on health and safety, these resources can help you strengthen related aspects of your provision:

School Accessibility Audit and Action Plan – Complement your H&S audit with a focused review of physical accessibility for pupils, staff and visitors with disabilities, ensuring your premises meet legal requirements and remove barriers to participation.

Health and Safety Link Governor Support Pack – Equip your H&S link governor with the tools, question prompts and guidance they need to effectively scrutinise and challenge health and safety provision at governance level.

Premises Caretaker and Site Manager Skills Audit Pack – Ensure your premises team has the skills, knowledge and training needed to maintain a safe and well-managed school environment. This pack helps you audit staff capabilities, identify training needs and plan professional development for caretakers and site managers.

Have a look at what's in the pack here: Health and Safety Audit Pack Preview