Pick Everard appointed to framework for education health and safety

Having been appointed on the Health and Safety Services Lot (Lot 6) of the new framework, Pick Everard’s team can now deploy its four-step approach to address the occupational health and safety needs for single and multi-academy trusts of any size across England.

Working to develop safety cultures and plans that focus on managing risks will help academies to prioritise key areas against business needs, without compromising on safety. Pick Everard’s appointment will allow academies to access a wide range of health and safety services, including – but are not limited to – audits and improvement plans, bespoke training, fire warden training, safeguarding training, and mental health support including stress management.

James Hymers, Pick Everard’s national discipline director for health and safety, said: “We are dedicated to ensuring health and safety adds value to our clients’ projects and organisations by offering more than just compliance. We’re really pleased to have further opportunity to offer these services to the up to 10,000 academies that can access Pagabo’s new framework, furthering the impact we can have on positive education environments.

“The variety of health and safety areas academies have to navigate are so widespread, covering everything from food provision and play equipment to incident planning with added priorities in physical and mental wellbeing of staff and students. To continue operations and meet tight budgets, schools and similar organisations often have to focus their priorities elsewhere.

“To allow academies to focus on their priorities we are really pleased to be able to provide our services so that all academy’s specific requirements are met and compliant with all necessary regulations. To further support the Education sector we are offering an initial free discovery call, this will confirm priorities and help a create tailored and efficient plan. Crucially, we can also provide vital training, plan development, documentation and incident investigation support to give academies the tools and support needed to tackle issues should they arise.

“Having worked with Pagabo for eight years, we are committed to delivering betterment within the built environment and opening up a new opportunity for education providers within occupational health and safety (OHS) is a great demonstration of this.”

The £90m Academy Services framework from Pagabo is new to market and will run until 2027. It allows single and multi-academy trust providers to access a range of services that support their operations. The framework’s nine lots cover these services, including health and safety, payroll, legal, and auditing services.

Gillian Wood, associate for health, safety, and risk management at Pick Everard, said: “Many academies are doing a great job at improving education within their facilities, but there is more to education than the classroom. How staff are cared for and the provisions that support them in their day to day can be hugely important.

“Understanding the Academy Trust Handbook is pivotal for us to ensuring compliance and fostering a safe, effective learning environment. This appointment allows us to influence best practices for the next generation and assist academies in creating engaging learning environments, underpinned by proactive and pragmatic health and safety management."

Jason Stapley, chief procurement officer at Pagabo, added: “Supporting education environments has never been more important, which is why we’ve developed this framework to provide academies with these vital support services. It all plays into supporting better environments that support quality education for the next generation.

“Health and safety plays a huge role in the operation of any organisation – but especially for education. Keeping staff and students safe and secure comes above everything else, so it was of paramount importance a suitable and reliable firm was appointed to this particular lot. We knew Pick Everard measured up to this mark and then some, and we now look forward to working with them on forthcoming procurements.”