A report issuing advice to teachers taking school trips is to be published by the Health and Safety Executive.

The report will focus on the death of ten-year-old Max Palmer from Fleetwood, Lancashire, who drowned during an excursion to the Lake District.

The HSE said its statement would communicate the lessons that have been learned from the May 2002 incident and provide practical advice to people who help organise educational visits.

The Lake District tragedy occurred when geography teacher Paul Ellis, from Cleveleys, near Blackpool, took a group from Fleetwood High School to a large beck used for "pool plunging" as part of an adventure weekend.

Max was not a pupil at the school but had accompanied his mother Patricia, an education support assistant, who watched as her son threw himself off rocks into the pool near Glenridding, Cumbria.

The youngster struggled in water at a temperature of 8C (46F) which was said in court to be the same as the English Channel in February.

Ellis was jailed for 12 months in September 2003 after pleading guilty to manslaughter at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.

He was described as "grossly negligent" for allowing the child to go into the water.

Deputy director general Justin McCracken said the HSE believed school trips were a vital part of a child's education and "misplaced risk aver-sion" should not deprive pupils of such opportunities.

He said: "Adventure activities provide the ideal opportunity to make children 'risk aware' by involving them in practical decision-making in challenging environments.

"HSE's views, and its recommendations following its investigation of the Glenrid-ding tragedy, mirror those of the Commons Education Select Committee.

"HSE will continue to champion the message that sensible health and safety is about managing risk rather than eliminating it."

The report, being published on March 9, will say that school trip leaders need to be competent and diligent and put the pupils' safety and interests first.

It will advise schools to follow the government's guidance on educational visits and put effective arrangements in place for assessing and monitoring trip leaders.

Mr McCracken said HSE supported the Government's advice and wanted to inform the debate on the future of school trips.

He said: "We applaud those teachers and helpers who give their time and energy to follow best practice and do the job safely and properly."