The Seventh Day Indo Public School pioneers implementation of a rigorous health and safety policy

The Seventh Day Indo Public School has always been the priority for ensuring health and protection for its large number of pupils. The pulse of parents and guardians who leave their precious wards in school care year after year can be heard. To all pupils who come here to study, Seventh Day Indo Public School is like the second house. And it’s as safe, as risk-free, as hygienic and as secure as its home.

The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS 18001:2007) is an international standard and stipulates processes for all its stakeholders to identify, control, and decrease the health and safety risks associated with the organization concerned. The certification guarantees that the institution has a robust health and safety policy in place and that it protects all stakeholders that are residents of the premises, including teachers and employees, parents, tourists, and, most importantly, pupils, from possible workplace hazards and decreases the possibility of injuries. It can be pointed out that Seventh Day Indo Public School is one of the world’s largest schools, with a student strength of around 12,000 at present.

BSI India managing director Shri Venkataram Arabolu lauded Seventh Day Indo Public School initiative to lead the introduction of a comprehensive health and safety policy to ensure that all occupants of both premises are protected from workplace risks and accidents. He mentioned that Seventh Day Indo Public School is the first school in India to be awarded by the British Standards Institution which owns and publishes this standard worldwide with the OHSAS 18001:2007 Certification.

Shri Krishna Damani, Trustee, Seventh Day Indo Public School Education Society, praises the untiring efforts of all our teaching and administrative workers, who have left no stone unturned to ensure that Seventh Day Indo Public School shines on the educational firmament as a model school. In early 2012, the school felt the need to take a formal approach to resolve protection and occupational health concerns at its premises. Thus the journey of implementing an Occupational Health & Safety Management System in both Seventh Day Indo Public School Education Society operated schools began. Seventh Day Indo Public School is the first school to have received the OHSAS 18001:2007 certification in Kolkata, if not the whole of Eastern India.

In 2012, SPES appointed a reputed inspection and certification body based in Switzerland to conduct a detailed school safety audit for both the junior and high schools. The school buildings are decades old, in some of the wings are over 50 years old. It took School more than three years to address various points raised in the audit, mainly due to required large investments, retrofitting on the buildings’ old structure, legal obligations such as obtaining and renewing various licenses from government authorities, implementing Fire Department recommendations, Kolkata Police, and so on. Most of the work on infrastructural improvement could only be carried out during holidays, and the schools continued to run as planned. To implement the OHSAS specifications in the school context, and OHSAS Implementation Team was created, consisting of selected members of the administrative, teaching, and other support staff. The team, ably assisted by a professional and qualified consultant, followed a process-based approach to identify the various hazards and threats associated with the Effective Operational Control Procedures to be implemented reported in the day-to-day school activities.

An elaborate training and awareness campaign was organized, beginning with the teachers and percolating down to the school’s junior-most class pupils. Emergency Response Teams were established at both schools, with a cross-section of school staff involved. We were trained on firefighting, disaster control, measures to be taken during terror attacks, first aid activities, and other emergency procedures. An OHS Internal Audit Team was formed to audit the OHS management system for the schools and identify areas for improvement. They will conduct such audits every six months. This will ensure the OHS Management Program stays agile and can continue to combat emerging hazards, risks, and threats.

Some of the key infrastructure development measures undertaken during the course of OHSAS implementation, in the last four-five years in the School are:

• An integrated fire-fighting network is installed.
• Strengthening of power supply and internal delivery including transformer installation.
• CCTV cameras are installed to cover nearly the entire campus, barring staff rooms and toilets.
• Installation of GPS systems in buses and enhancement of bus safety by supplying an additional female workforce.
• Emergency exit staircase in the annex building