Secondary Science Education Risk Assessment

---
name: secondary-science-education-risk-assessment
description: |
  Identify, score and control the risks in work for secondary school students in a school science department and laboratories.
  TRIGGERS - Use when a secondary science teacher needs a risk assessment for secondary school students in a school science department and laboratories.
category: Secondary Science Education
license: MIT
version: 1.0
---
# Risk Assessment — Secondary Science Education

Identify, score and control the risks in work for secondary school students in a school science department and laboratories. The deliverable is a risk assessment with likelihood/impact scores, controls and owners.
This skill is written for a secondary science teacher working with secondary school students in a school science department and laboratories.

## When to use
- You are a secondary science teacher preparing, delivering or reviewing this part of your work in a school science department and laboratories.
- You need a defensible, repeatable approach that produces a risk assessment with likelihood/impact scores, controls and owners.
- A colleague, auditor or client asks how this was done and what evidence supports it.

## Key Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| Risk assessment | evaluating hazards in practical work before it happens |
| Hypothesis | a testable prediction |
| Controlled variable | a factor kept constant in an investigation |

## Workflow
1. **Step 1** - Map the activity step by step and list what could go wrong at each stage for secondary school students and staff
2. **Step 2** - Score each risk for likelihood and impact, giving special weight to practical safety incidents
3. **Step 3** - For every high risk, define a control that removes, reduces or contains it, using laboratory equipment where relevant
4. **Step 4** - Record the assessment in schemes of work, assign an owner to each control, and set a review date
5. **Step 5** - Brief everyone involved before work starts; stop and reassess if conditions in a school science department and laboratories change

## Profession-Specific Components
| Component | Details for Secondary Science Education |
|-----------|-------------------------------|
| Core documentation | schemes of work; practical risk assessments; assessment records; exam analyses |
| Core tools & equipment | laboratory equipment; simulation software; safety systems; data loggers |
| People involved | secondary school students; the secondary science teacher; colleagues and other services in a school science department and laboratories |
| Primary record | schemes of work — keep it current, dated and attributable |

## Output Format
**Context:** [Situation in a school science department and laboratories] | **Objective:** [What this must achieve] | **Audience:** [secondary school students and other stakeholders]

The finished output is a risk assessment with likelihood/impact scores, controls and owners, structured as:
1. Summary of position and evidence
2. Detail, following the workflow above
3. Decisions, actions, owners and dates
4. Review point and escalation route

### Action Plan
1. **Immediate:** Confirm scope, consent and the evidence available in schemes of work.
2. **Short-term:** Complete the workflow steps and record outcomes against examination results.
3. **Medium-term:** Review results, close actions, and update local procedures in a school science department and laboratories.

## Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Method |
|--------|--------|--------|
| examination results | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from schemes of work and reviewed on a set cycle |
| practical completion rates | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from schemes of work and reviewed on a set cycle |
| safety incident rates | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from schemes of work and reviewed on a set cycle |
| progress tracking | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from schemes of work and reviewed on a set cycle |

## Guardrails & Quality Checks
- Never let this happen: practical safety incidents.
- Never let this happen: misconceptions in core concepts.
- Never let this happen: equipment faults.
- Work only within the competence and authority of a secondary science teacher; escalate or refer anything beyond it.
- Record facts and observations, not speculation, and keep records confidential to a school science department and laboratories's rules.
- Verify names, dates, figures and measurements twice before anything is issued or signed off.
- Use only real, verified information from the case in hand — never invent results, credentials or evidence.

## Example (illustrative)
A secondary science teacher in a school science department and laboratories applies this workflow for secondary school students: they open
schemes of work, work through the five steps using laboratory equipment, and close by recording
the outcome against examination results and agreeing the next review date. (Illustrative example only —
replace with the real details of the case in hand.)