Health, Safety and Environment Committee

SAF07-M1

Minutes of the meeting of the Health, Safety and Environmental Committee held on 21 February 2007 at 2.00pm

	Mr J Blackwell (Chair)
Professor J V Beaverstock (ab) Dr E D Brown (ab)	Mrs K Bedwell (ab) Mr M C Brown (ab)	Mr S Black (ab) Miss S Carter
Mr M Clarson (ab)	Dr S E Dann (ab)	Mr A R Eyre
Mr T Fleming (ab)	Mr R Harrison	Dr R A Haskins (ab)
Mr R A Hill	Mrs W Jones (ab)	Dr D Jordan
Mr A Kawalski (ab)	Mrs W E Llewellyn	Mrs C Moore
Mr T M Neale	Mr H M Pearson	Mrs L Sands
Mr M Stringfellow	Professor R C Thomson (ab)	Mr J M Town
D Wilson	Dr C Woodruff

In attendance: Miss D Cracknell, Committee Secretary.

07/01 Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from: Professor J Beaverstock, Mr E D Brown, Mr M Clarson, Mr T Fleming, Dr R A Haskins, Mrs W Jones, Professor R C Thomson, Dr S E Dann.

It was announced that Mr T Fleming would be leaving the University at the end of March. It was hoped that a replacement would be recruited within six to seven weeks but it was anticipated that the new member of staff would not be in position until June 2007.

07/02 Minutes

(SAF06–M3 and SAF06-M4 attached)

The Minutes of the meetings held on 15 November 2006 and 14 December 2006 were confirmed.

07/03 Matters Arising from Previous Meetings

3.1 Fumes from Jet Nozzle Rig (Aeronautical Engineering) (minute 06/36)

It was reported that the project was in progress and on schedule for completion in June 2007.

3.2 Report from Health and Safety Manager (minute 06/39)

It was confirmed that the auditing tool was available and would be used on imago first.

The Heads of Department and Heads of Support Service training had been well received. Consideration would be given to making similar training more widely available within very large departments and was to be addressed with HoDS and HoSSs. This would need to reflect their role in managing safety and take place once all HoDs and HoSSs had received training

3.3. University Fire Officer’s Report (minute 06/42)

It was confirmed that a meeting of representatives from the Residential and Management Committee and the University Fire Officer to address concerns about student discipline had occurred.

3.4. University Policy on Occupational Stress

SAF07-P1

It was noted that paper SAF07-P5 reported a large increase in the amount of staff with psychological problems and this was a significant problem that the University needed to address. The policy on Occupational Stress provided details on the measures that the University was taking.

The Committee was asked consider whether there was any other word than ‘Stress’ that could be used for the policy but no comments were made.

3.6. First Aid

SAF07-P2

The Minute from the Human Resources Committee was noted although as this had already been approved by Council no further action could be taken on this matter.

The Health, Safety and Environment Manager asked that it was noted that the first aid honorarium was a gratuity rather a salary matter and therefore not a Human Resource issue so the correct process had been followed.

Concerns were raised on how this decision would impact on the recruitment of first aiders. Those with concerns were referred back to previous Committee papers as a discussion could not be entered into without the full background to the decisions. One department with particular concerns was involved in off line discussions.

3.7 Policy on Controlling Noise at Work;

Policy on Control of Hand Arm Vibration at Work

It was noted that Council had approved these policies.

07/04 University Health, Safety and Environment Policy including Terms of Reference and Membership of the Committee

Council had approved the policy subject to further minor amendments. The VC had drafted a frontispiece for the policy on which was she was to consult The Chair. The Health, Safety and Environment Manager and the Secretary were to finalise the amendments shortly and the process of rolling out to staff and employees could begin.

ACTION: TF & BPV

07/05 Report from the Health, Safety and Environment Manager

The timescales for the HASMAP audit had been delayed slightly due to it being a package for all HEIs to use and the necessity of having to wait for it to be developed. The audits were due to commence starting with imago followed by Estates and two academic departments.

07/06 KPMG Health and Safety Audit

The report from the KPMG audit had been submitted to the Audit Committee and formal feedback was expected. A main issue raised by the audit was the lack of ownership and knowledge of responsibilities. This would be addressed by the new Health, Safety and Environment policy and subsequent training for HoDs and HoSs.

It was agreed that the Committee should see a copy of the report. It was noted, however, that it was still at draft stage and therefore any comments made by the Audit Committee would not be conclusive. Managers would have an opportunity to comment on the report. The latest Health and Safety policy should address issues raised in the audit and it was suggested KPMG should conduct a follow up audit before June 2007.

It was agreed that Catherine Moore would report at the next meeting on the progress of the report and any conclusion made by the Audit Committee.

Action: CM

07/07 Annual Report of the Radiation Protection Officer

SAF07-P3

Gratitude was expressed to the Bursar for securing the funding for the removal of the final large radioactive source on campus. This had improved safety on the centre of the campus.

The new bone densitometer was due to arrive on campus the week commencing 26^th February and would be housed in a specific area suitable for such equipment. Key personnel would be receiving bought in training for the operation of this equipment. As this would be a new area of work the Radiation Committee had agreed new local rules to cover this. No work using the instrument should involve children or pregnant women unless there were very strong scientific reasons. The work already planned using the equipment had been approved by the Ethical Advisory Committee and all future work would require their approval. The amendments to the local rules were to be submitted to Council.

It was confirmed that there was currently nothing on campus governed by The High Activity Sealed Radioactive Sources and Orphan Sources Regulations SI2005 No,2686 (HASS). If anything was brought on campus that would bring the University under these regulations it was likely to be a lengthy and costly process.

07/08 University Fire Officer’s Report

SAF07-P4

Two main areas of concern were highlighted under this report namely buildings that had failed the controlled evacuation times and departments that had insufficient or no nominated fire marshal representation within academic buildings. These two lists seemed to be linked. A reminder had been sent out to HoDs about the need for fire marshals and a number of departments had provided a response. It was suggested that the departments were given a further fourteen days to respond. A list of those who had not responded should be sent to the Registrar who would then alert the appropriate Dean that this needed to be taken forward.

The Fire Officer confirmed that training courses were ongoing for Fire Marshals and extra courses could be arranged if training was an issue.

Concern was raised about the marshalling of buildings containing lecture halls. It was confirmed that the Lecturer was responsible for attendees and therefore should be aware of the fire assembly point when using the building. It was suggested that an announcement confirming actions to be taken in the event of a fire should be made at the first lecture of each semester. It was agreed that lecturing staff needed to be made aware of this responsibility and the Registrar would circulate a note drafted by TF and RH to appropriate staff and HoDs.

It was reported that Fire Service call outs were 50% lower on campus than in 2005 and that the University should be commended on this. The Fire Officer did not have details about the disciplinary actions given to students who had instigated malicious call outs. The Registrar agreed to assist with this information.

It was reported that signage for fire assembly points had been purchased and should be installed across campus within six months. It was suggested that a blanket e mail could be sent notifying staff of this.

ACTION: TF, RH & JMT

07/09 Occupational Ill Health

SAF07-P5

As already noted psychological problems had increased and it should be noted that stress was a significant and growing problem. The Committee had no further comments on the paper.

SECTION B – Formal Starred Items

07/10 Accident Statistics

SAF07-P6

An analysis of accidents for the period October-December 2006 was received.

07/11 Asset Risk Improvement Task Group

SAF07-P7

The Minutes of the Asset Risk Improvement Task Group meeting held on 9 February 2007 were noted.

07/12 Sustainable Development Action Group(SDAG)

SAF07-P8

The Minutes of the SDAG meeting of 23 January 2007 were noted.

SECTION C – Items for Information

07/13 Any Other Business

There was no any other business to report.

07/14 Date of next meeting

Wednesday 13 June 2007, 2pm

Author: Danielle Cracknell

Date: February 2007