HC Deb 22 February 1973 vol 851 cc173-4W
Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will introduce legislation to make the wearing of safety spectacles obligatory when working in chemical laboratories located in educational establishments;

(2) what advice has been issued by her Department to educational establishments using chemical laboratories about the provision of safety spectacles for students present in the laboratory whilst experiments are being undertaken.

Mrs. Thatcher

No. Advice on the protection of the eyes is given in my Department's pamphlet No. 53 "Safety at School". The application of this, and other advice, is better left to the schools, colleges and teachers.

Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice her Department gives to educational establishments about sending teachers, responsible for science laboratory work, on courses covering safety at work; and if she will seek to establish how many teachers having such responsibilities attended courses between September 1971 to the latest convenient date.

Mrs. Thatcher

In answer to the first part of the Question, none. General advice on safety in science laboratories is given in my Department's pamphlet "Safety at School", but it is for employing authorities to decide what form of advice or further training on safety is most appropriate for members of their staffs.

Information of the kind requested in the second part of the Question is not regularly collected and I do not consider that a special survey would be justified.