Safety in Mechanical Technology Workshops at South African Public Schools

South Africa has an urgent need for qualified technical and mechanical people. Technical disciplines are encouraged in public schools to fulfil this requirement. Teachers are also in an environment that is becoming increasingly litigious. Technology teachers may be forced to pay greater attention to managing safety and security as legal liability for harm caused during activities in school workshops is expected to increase. The safety of all students is a crucial component in schools. Effective teaching and learning can be improved in workshop areas where learner safety, or "Geborgenheit", is generated. The security of students while they participate in activities is the responsibility of the Mechanical Technology teacher. For school workshops, an efficient safety policy must be created to reduce the danger of injuries and harm to students. The primary method for reducing and preventing injuries and making sure that the teacher or school is not held accountable for damage, is a purposeful policy. The empirical investigation used a mixed research methodology, where Mechanical Technology teachers quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the management of security in school workshops. Data were triangulated (analytically, narratively, and discussed), and conclusions and suggestions were formed. The results show that teachers are unaware of their legal obligation to take care of students and are under-informed on delictual liability and education law. Due to the complexity of today's society, all participants in the education industry must recognize that understanding the legal and technological facets of the field is not only important, but also ought to be made essential. [For the complete Volume 21 proceedings, see ED629259.]