Health, Safety and Environment Committee

 

SAF08-M2

 

Minutes of the meeting of Health, Safety and Environment Committee held on 11 June 2008

 

Mr S Black

Mr J Blackwell (Chair)

Dr E Brown

Mr M Brown

Mr T Burgess

Mr M Clarson (ab)

Dr S Dann (ab)

Prof N Halliwell

Mr R Harrison

Dr R Haskins

Mr A Hodgson (ab)

Mrs W Jones

Mr D Jordan

Mr A Kowalski

Mrs W Llewellyn (ab)

Dr J Mckenzie

Mrs C Moore

Mr T Neale

Prof R Parkin (ab)

Prof S Pearce (ab)

Mrs L Sands

Dr S Shirreffs

Mr M Stringfellow 

Mr J Thomas

Mr J Tidy  (ab)

Prof P Warwick

Dr C Woodruff

Ms L Young (ab)

 

In Attendance: Brigette Vale

 

By Invitation: Rob Allan

 

08/1    Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Michael Clarson, Sandie Dann, Tony Hodgson and Rob Parkin, 

 

08/2    Business of the Agenda

Item 14 was unstarred

 

08/3    Minutes

            (SAF08–M1)

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 February 2008 were confirmed.

 

08/4    Matters Arising from Previous Meetings not Mentioned Elsewhere on

the Agenda

   There were no matters arising.

 

08/5    Annual Health and Safety Plan

The HSEM reported that many items on the agenda reflected the progress made with the HSE Action Plan, eg the items relating to DSEAR, COSHH and the Estates Audit.  One objective in the Action Plan had been to improve communications with DSOs. This was being achieved by the introduction of an HSE newsletter to be published twice per annum.  DSOs would also  have a section for their own contributions to share good practice.  Training for DSOs would be available in August 2008.

 

08/6    University Fire Officer’s Report

SAF08-P10

The Committee  received a report from the University Fire Officer. It was noted that there   had been an incident at Holywell Park and as a result it had been agreed that there needed to be improvements to the tenants’ risk assessment process.   A further report will be made to the next meeting of HSE Committee.  There was a cooking related  incident in a kitchen at Falkner Eggington which had been dealt with very professionally. The fire statistics were consistent with previous reports.  Members received data on fire activations in Unite managed Halls for comparison.

 

08/7    Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

            SAF08-P11

Members noted the correspondence between the University and the Leics. Fire and Rescue Service concerning unwanted fire signals.  It was noted that the University had made great progress in managing the number of unwanted fire signals, and that the policy introduced in 2006 of challenging signals had been a success.

 

08/8    Misuse of Fire Equipment in Halls of Residence

            SAF08-P12

The Committee  noted the actions taken by imago Services  to reduce the number of incidents of misuse of  fire equipment in Halls of Residence, the incidence of which had declined until very recently.  The Committee considered a proposal from imago that the fines imposed by Wardens for misuse of equipment should be standardised and reflect the seriousness of the offence.  It was reported that there was a standard list of fines , but the Wardens used this as a starting point and would wish to exercise discretion relating to the damage done or where the culprit owned up.  All fines were reported to the Student Disciplinary Committee and they could comment on the level.

It was agreed that Julian Mackenzie, Malcolm Brown and Rod Harrison should meet to review the position and report to the next meeting of the Committee.

 

Action: JM,MB,RH

 

08/9    Estates Audit Report

SAF08-P13

The Committee  considered the Estates Audit report.  It was noted that this was the first audit to be completed and the HSEM thanked Andrew Burgess for his assistance particularly with the action plan. All audit reports would be considered at HSE Committee and there would be a progress report on implementation for the following  Committee.

The report would need to be considered further within Estates Services but it was felt that it provided a useful  road map for further action.  The Director of Estates Services felt that the main finding was that they needed to do more internal auditing and especially with contractors.

It was, however, noted that there had been an unexpected on site visit from the Health and Safety Executive to the Car Park 7 development recently where 350 people were working. The security was so effective the Inspector was initially unable to gain access.  The report from the visit was excellent and the outcome was very positive for the University and the contractor.

 

Audits would be carried out next on LUSAD, imago and Wolfson School  and reports would be available for the next meeting.

 

Action: HSEM

 

08/10  Policy on First Aid and Accident Reporting

SAF08-P14

The Committee considered a policy on First Aid and Accident Reporting. It was noted that this was an update of an existing policy.  The format of the policy was expected to become a standard to follow for all policies. The Trades Union members confirmed their agreement with the policy which was welcomed by the Committee.

 

08/11  Policy on Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres

SAF08-P15

The Committee considered a policy on  Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres.  It was noted that this was a new policy which met a requirement.  It would not necessarily impose more work on individuals but made their responsibilities more explicit.  It was noted that although the Fire Officer had undertaken risk assessment in relation to the infrastructure, it was more difficult to undertake them in relation to processes within academic Departments.  This policy would ask for all those assessments and would affect laboratories and workshops.  The HSEM would advise next meeting on the possibility of introducing a risk register.

 

Action :HSEM

 

08/12  Policy on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans

            SAF08-P16

The Committee  considered a policy on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs).  It was noted that this policy would apply to staff and students. One of the main difficulties HSE had encountered was obtaining up to date and sufficiently detailed information on staff and students with disabilities and then obtaining responses from them to enable the drafting of the PEEP. It was felt that further attention should be given to providing information on disabilities from LUSI.

 

It was felt that it would be useful in some circumstances to draft a generic PEEP for a building rather than an individual, this could then be made available to visitors if needed.

It was not clear whose responsibility it was to identify a member of staff with a disability.  It was also noted that there may be some duplication of effort in identifying hazards in buildings for disabled staff and students. It was not clear where the financial responsibility lay for responding to the PEEPs nor where the PEEPs were lodged. It was agreed that there should be a distinction made between facilitating access to buildings and enabling an evacuation. These issues should be clarified and the HSEM having consulted with the DVC and Director of Estates Services would report back to the next meeting on what the requirements were.

 

There was detailed discussion regarding the role of the Fire and Rescue Service in relation to rescuing disabled people. It was noted that in some buildings the University could not provide rescue services for those with disabilities and the question arose as to whether access should therefore be restricted. It was agreed that with the proximity of the Fire Service to the campus the risk to life was extremely small.  Refuges would be provided in all areas where immediate evacuation was not possible , these would include means of communication and would provide sufficient time to enable the Fire service to respond.

It was agreed that a further draft of the policy should be presented to the next meeting.

 

Action: HSEM

 

08/13  Policy on Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

SAF08-P18

The Committee considered a policy on Control of Substances Hazardous to Health.  It was reported that this brought all previous guidance together into a single policy. It included bottled and all other substances.  This was to be clarified in the policy.

 

Action: HSEM

 

08/14  Membership of Health and Safety Committee 08/09

To note that following a review of the Committee structure, Health and Safety Committee will become a joint Committee of Senate and Council and will be chaired by the Deputy Vice Chancellor with effect from next session.

 

08/15  Accident Statistics

SAF08-P20

The Committee  received an analysis of accident statistics for the period  1 January-31 March 2008

 

08/16  Annual Report from Ethical Advisory Committee

            SAF08-P21

            The Committee received the annual report from Ethical Advisory Committee

 

08/17  Matters Raised by Departmental Safety Officers

It was noted that no matters had been raised for discussion by Departmental Safety Officers.

 

08/18  Any Other Business

The Deputy Vice Chancellor reported that there would be a change in the constitution of the Committee for the next session.  In the course of reviewing the Committee structure it had been noted that there was a repetition in the consideration of business particularly around Resources and Planning Committee and that Committee had been disbanded .  It had been agreed that the main operational Committees would be chaired by the responsible member of the Executive Management Team and that these Committees  would report to both Senate and Council.

 

The Deputy Vice Chancellor would become chair of HSE Committee and it was hoped that the current chair would continue to serve as a lay member.

 

The DVC thanked the chair, John Blackwell,  for his leadership of the Committee during his term of office. It was noted that the HSE policy document would need to be amended to reflect changes to membership.

 

It was noted by the chair that the academic members of the Committee found it difficult to attend meetings. It was suggested that the composition of the Committee should be discussed at the next meeting.

 

The chair thanked retiring member Cyril Woodruff for his service to the Committee.

 

*08/19 Dates of  Meetings 2008/09

The provisional schedule of meetings for 2008/09 is as follows:

 

Thursday 30 October 2008 pm

Wednesday 18 February 2009 pm

Wednesday 10 June 2009 pm

 

Author: Brigette Vale

Date: June 2008

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