Contractor Safeguarding in Schools

When electrical contractors work in a school, safeguarding is as important as electrical safety. Contractor safeguarding is the set of controls that keep pupils protected while inspection, testing or remedial works are carried out.

The safeguarding duty

Schools have a statutory duty to safeguard pupils, and that duty extends to anyone the school allows on site. Every contractor arrangement should sit within the school's safeguarding policy and its single central record of checks.

Before work begins

• DBS and identity checks appropriate to the level of pupil contact, in line with the school's policy.
• Confirmation of competence and insurance for the electrical work itself — the school still needs a competent EICR contractor.
• A risk assessment covering both electrical hazards and pupil interaction.

While on site

• Signing in and identification — visible ID badges and a clear signing-in and -out process.
• Supervision or escort in occupied areas, and clear separation of the work area from pupils.
• No lone unsupervised contact with pupils unless the appropriate clearances are held.

Timing works to reduce contact

Wherever possible, disruptive or higher-risk electrical work is scheduled for holiday periods or outside teaching hours, so contractors and pupils are simply not in the same spaces. This reduces both the safeguarding and the electrical risk at once.

Recording it properly

The school records the checks, inductions and supervision arrangements alongside the electrical certificates in its compliance documentation. That combined record demonstrates the school met both its safeguarding and its electrical compliance duties — exactly what inspectors and governors expect to see.