The Assessment of Establishment and Maintenance of the Health Man-agement System in Schools and Grading for Awarding Stars (H.S.E-ms)

Document Type : Original Article(s)

Authors

1 Senior Expert of Occupational Health and MPH of Environmental Health, Responsible Expert of Occupational Health and Advisor and Senior Expert of the Office, Office of the Minister, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran

2 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad

3 Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran

4 Medical Student, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad

5 General Practitionnaire, Director General of the Bureau of Health and Prevention of Social Problems, Deputy of Training and Physical Education, Ministry of Education, Tehran

Abstract

Background: Addressing school health and safety is an important public health issue. The aim of this study was to identify the status of safety and health (HSE) in Iranian schools, and to provide a monitoring and evaluation scoring system to produce a management system to handle health and safety issues in schools systematically.
Methods: An 81-item checklist was applied to obtain data regarding the performance of HSE in 60 schools in five Iranian provinces to award health stars (15-level stars). In all provinces, inadequacies and limitations were documented in safety measures.
Findings: Health and safety in Iranian schools need more attention; for example only 48.2% of surveyed schools have suitable space (4 m3 per capita) for studying and only 21.4% of piloted schools have suitable and ergonomic tables; additionally 69.6% of schools have no emergency exits or access to them.
Conclusion: By passing this pilot phase, now an agreement is signed between the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the Ministry of Education, and this plan is implemented as a national program in Iran for improvement of the safety and health in schools. We suggest that establishment and maintenance of the health management system in schools and ranking and granting stars to them is one of the most appropriate plans in this regard to be implemented in the region.