If you’re in the education sector then you have probably heard about PREVENT. If you haven’t, you’re probably living under a rock! But if you haven’t here’s a rundown on what PREVENT is and why you need to know about it.

PREVENT

The government has developed several strategies, including the prevent duty. CTSA is also known as the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. The act introduced a range of different measures aimed at countering the risk of terrorism and radicalisation. The PREVENT duty is also a statutory requirement for education providers such as higher and further education, as well as anyone who works with vulnerable people.

The prevent strategy is as follows:

• It responds to any challenges someone may face from terrorism and aspects of extremism and the threat someone faces from people who promote those views
• Ensures that people are given advice and support to prevent being drawn into terrorism
• Prevent works with a wide range of sectors (such as education, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to be aware of.

So what are extremism and radicalisation?

Extremism

Currently, the government defines extremism as vocal or active opposition to fundamental British Values. Including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. There is a difference between extremism and radicalisation, but the two are often used interchangeably. You can also have domestic and violent extremism.

Radicalisation

In this process, vulnerable individual or adult changes their perceptions and beliefs. Due to exposure to extremist influence. The influence could come from online, publications or one on one contact. A radicaliser is an individual who encourages that vulnerable person to develop the same beliefs as them to support terrorism and forms of extremism which will lead to terrorism.

Risks

Here are a few ways a vulnerable child or person can become radicalised. But many other risks can happen. With the current rise of social media, extremist beliefs have an easier way to radicalise children. Normalizing extremist views can be the first step. Leading them to see content that is not appropriate for children, as it’s normally graphic and shocking. Additionally, a ‘grooming’ process will take place, in which the vulnerable person is exploited by the radicalisers to form friendships/companionships. Which then draws the person or child away from their normal views and ideology.

Being a practitioner, you have to know how to identify these risks and use your professional judgement to help seek advice if necessary. In addition to this one, other risks could be present as well. Having training is extremely important as well, as there are multiple training channels that will take you through the process of talking about the process of radicalisation, the risks and how to identify it. As well as how you can report it and seek advice.

Indicators

In some cases, you can determine if someone has been radicalised or is in the process of becoming radicalised by looking at the following factors. But you have to exercise your professional judgement too.

• Identity crisis– They distance themselves from their cultural/religious heritage and are uncomfortable with their place in the society around them.
• Personal crisis– They may have tension within the family. Have a sense of isolation, and low self-esteem, are disassociating from existing friendship groups and becoming involved with a new or different group of friends. Or they’re searching for answers to questions about identity, faith and belonging.
• Personal circumstances– Migration or local community tension. There could be events affecting their country or region of origin. Alienation of UK values.
• Unmet aspirations– They could have feelings and perceptions of injustice, failure, or rejection from community and values.
• Criminality– They could have experienced prison or had previous involvement with criminal groups.

Not all extremism and radicalisation look the same. It could be heavy movement toward the right or left-wing views. Or movement into racial bias groups or movement into religious groups. All of which can lead to harm or criminal activity and terrorism.

Reporting

So how can you support or report someone you may think is at risk? It is best to seek advice from a manager or directly speak with the learner if you are concerned that they may be at risk. However, if you don’t want to take this route you can get advice from the Action Counters Terrorism website. This can help you by answering any questions you have. It’s not a crime to seek advice; it’s a good idea to do so in order to make sure the person isn’t a danger to themselves or others.

After talking to someone, they may want you to make a referral to Prevent. Referring someone or requesting support from Prevent is also encouraged, and it will not affect the learner’s criminal record.  If you wish to refer someone, the process looks like this.

Referring process

1. Your local police force will look at each referral. They check if there is an immediate security threat. They’ll also check if there is a genuine risk of radicalisation.
2. If the person isn’t at risk of radicalisation, they are not a case for Prevent. Depending on the circumstance, they may be offered other support, such as referrals to mental health or social services.
3. If there is a risk of radicalisation, a panel of experts assesses the referral. The panel consists of local authorities, children’s services, social services, education professionals and mental health care professionals.
4. In the event that someone is determined to be at risk, they will be invited to participate in a support programme called Channel. This is voluntary, so a person can choose whether or not they want to take part. The police will manage any risks if a person chooses not to participate in the programme.

Channel

This is an intervention service, this is a support programme, as everything is confidential. The panel will work with local partners to develop an appropriate and tailored support package. The Channel panel will monitor and review this package closely and regularly. Some support that could be provided by Channel is Mentoring, mental health support (such as counselling), education or career development support and online safety training for parents.

When it comes to health and safety, either in the classroom or in the working environment, we must know about it! We also need to act upon it. We have to keep our workers and learners safe. So what is the health and safety at work act? That’s where we come in! We’re going to go through what it is and why it matters to you as an assessor, trainer or tutor.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) refer to the Act concerning health and safety at work. Is a massive piece of legislation that governs workplace health and safety in Great Britain. As the bill is massive, there are a few very important sections and we’re going to outline them for you. So sit back and read!

History of the Health and Safety at work Act

This section is only going to be short, we need to understand some history of the act to fully understand it. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, there weren’t many mandatory rules and regulations for businesses. Take factory work and mines. They were extremely dangerous to work in. Even sewing mills were hard to work in when there were no regulations. Several dangerous events took place in some factories, resulting in fires. Thus in 1974, the health and safety at work act was created. The act encompassed safe working conditions for anyone within a workplace environment. Without this act, we wouldn’t have the safe working environments that we have today.

So what are the main sections of the act?

Key sections

The first part of the act regulates workplace health, safety and welfare. It aims to protect people from injury or illness by ensuring employees’ health, safety and welfare at work, protecting non-employees against health and safety risks, and controlling the storage and use of explosive, highly flammable or dangerous substances. That each responsibility falls on employers and employees.

Employers responsibilities

Employers have a duty of care to protect their employee’s health and well-being, as well as the members of the public, visitors and contractors. Some responsibilities that employers have are:

• Maintaining equipment and other systems to ensure people’s safety
• Provide adequate training and information on how to carry out work processes in a safe manner
• Provide a safe place to work
• Provide a safe working environment
• Develop a health and safety policy
• Perform risk assessments
• Work with health and safety experts when needed
• Provide proper facilities

Employers need to follow some main steps as well. These steps could include, deciding how workers could be harmed. Additionally, to work out precautions to avoid this harm. As an employer, you will need to report any dangerous incidents and provide any insurance for workers. You need to provide proper facilities as well, this is the basics, such as toilets, clean drinking water, heating and air conditioning. If you provide a kitchen area for your employees, you need to make sure that any and all appliances are checked and maintained.

Employee responsibilities

There are a few things employees need to follow when it comes to health and safety. These are:

• Adhere to any and all training
• Be cautious for yourself and others
• Cooperate with employers on health and safety
• And report anything if you think it may risk someone

Employees should speak out if they’re not going to be safe within an environment. Whether you’re working in a factory or a school. So how can you keep environments safe?

Keeping environments safe

Keeping and maintaining a safe working environment is paramount for any organisation. It’s more than just putting up a few posters and maybe a training session once in a blue moon. You need to have a strong safety culture year-round. So here are a few ways to keep your environment safe, regardless of what industry you work in.

• Maintain any equipment so that it works correctly
• If you find a defect in anything, e.g. an appliance, put it right
• Have enough space for safe moving and access
• Ensure floors, hallways and staircases are free from obstacles
• Make sure any and all windows are capable of being opened and closed or adjusted safely
• Minimise risks in snowy or wet conditions in outdoor spaces, by use of salt, sand or sweeping
• Have good light to try and avoid glare
• Provide a good level of lighting at workstations when necessary
• Make certain there are emergency lights
• Have well-lit stairs and hallways
• Provide safe passages for pedestrians and vehicles
• Try and have level even floors and surfaces (sometimes this can be hard outside)
• Equip any hand-rails on stairs and ramps where necessary
• Properly maintained floors, so they’re not slippery.
• Also, provide clean floors and stairs
• As well as clean premises and furniture
• Arrange containers for waste materials
• Clean up spillages when necessary and have signs
• Cables! Try and keep cables out of the way to prevent tripping hazards

Keeping up with risks

Now, these are only a few ways to keep an environment safe! There are so many more ways, it all depends on what you may think is applicable to you! If you work in an education setting, your health and safety precautions might be different to someone who works on a construction site. So be aware that not everything may apply to you, but be cautious of what will. As well, welcome your employees coming to you about any risks that they might see, we don’t all think the same way, so they might see something as a risk that you might not.

So why does it matter to you as an assessor? Well considering you’re going to be in an education setting or a workplace setting, you need to know how you can keep your learners safe. If you feel like they’re going to be put at risk you need to know how you can stop that and provide a safe and secure environment for them to work and train in.