Minutes of
the meeting of Health, Safety and Environment Committee held on 29 October 2009
|
Dr Jo
Aldridge (ab) |
Mr J
Blackwell (ab) |
Mr M
Brown |
|
Mr A
Burgess |
Mr H
Chambers (ab) |
Mr M Clarson |
|
Prof P Conway
(ab) |
Dr S Dann |
Prof N A Halliwell |
|
Mr R
Harrison |
Dr R
Haskins (ab) |
Mr A
Hodgson |
|
Dr S
Horner |
Mrs W
Jones |
Mr A
Kowalski |
|
Dr J Mackenzie
(ab) |
Mrs C
Moore |
Mr F Narty |
|
Mr T
Neale |
Prof R Parkin |
Prof S
Pearce (ab) |
|
Mrs L
Sands |
Dr S Shirreffs |
Mr Julian
Sulley (ab) |
|
Mr W
Spinks |
Mr M Stringfellow |
Mr J
Thomas |
|
Prof P
Warwick (ab) |
Ms L
Young |
|
In attendance: Dr Brigette Vale
09/35 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were
received from: Jo Aldridge, John Blackwell, Henry Chambers, Paul Conway, Bob Haskins,
Julian Mackenzie, Shirley Pearce, Julian Sulley and Peter
Warwick.
09/36 Business of the Agenda
No items were unstarred
09/37 Minutes
(SAF08–M2)
The Minutes of the meeting held on 10
June 2009 were confirmed subject to the addition of Nigel Thomas to the list of
those present
09/38 Matters Arising from Previous Meetings not Mentioned
Elsewhere on
the Agenda
.1 Further
to Minute 09/25 it was noted that at the Grove all electrical circuits
had been removed and remounted. Since June to date
there had been 27 fire
signal activations , 22 of unknown cause leading to 2
evacuations. Investigations
were continuing into this matter.
.2 It
was noted that there remained aspects of the revised Smoking at Work policy
to be implemented by Facilities Management. These concerned signage and the
provision of bins. It
was felt that it would be appropriate in the first instance to amend
the existing No Smoking signs to reflect the new
exclusion areas and to ensure that
the bins were correctly located, where they were
required. It was suggested that
entrances to buildings
such as the EHB and the Library be addressed first
Action: AB
09/39 Membership and
Terms of Reference of Health, Safety and Environment Committee
SAF09-P21
The membership and terms of reference
of Health, Safety and Environment Committee for 2009/10 were noted. The
Committee noted that the vacancy for a second lay member of the Committee remained
unfilled despite efforts to fill the position . Members were invited to suggest possible individuals
to undertake this role
and to contact the Committee Secretary.
It was felt that if the vacancy
remained unfilled for much longer it would lapse.
It was agreed that the vacancy for
a Pro Vice Chancellor on the Committee was now unnecessary because there were
already members of the Executive Leadership Team included as members. It was agreed to recommend to Senate and
Council that the membership be amended to remove this vacancy.
SAF09-P22
The Committee considered and reviewed the University’s Health and
Safety Policy
Statement. It was noted that there had been a
number of minor editorial changes made to the
Policy to reflect changes in staff
and their titles.
The page with the Vice Chancellor’s signature
would need to be dated in line with the
review. The Committee was satisfied with
the policy
statement subject to some additional
editorial changes.
09/41 Annual
Health and Safety Plan
SAF09-P23a and SAF09-P23b
.1 The Committee considered a progress report from the Health and Safety
Manager on the implementation of the Health and Safety Plan for 2008/09 and the new Health and Safety Plan for 2009/10
which would be reported to Council.
It was noted that this was the
third annual Health and Safety Plan received by the Committee. Section A of the
Plan reported on progress against targets set previously and section B reported
on the new targets for the current session.
The Committee confirmed that they found this format helpful. The HSEM reported that considerable progress
had been achieved against the Plan for 08/09.
A number of achievements were highlighted including the completion of
the second round of fire risk assessments, the checking of fire hydrant flows,
the installation of AFD systems in all significant buildings,. the update of the HSE Office website, and the HAV assessments in Occupational
Health. The Committee commended the HSEM
on the very considerable achievements made against the targets set and thanked
her and her Team.
.2 The Committee noted that the Health and
Safety Plan for 2009/10 represented an ambitious set of targets. Radiation Protection was an area of
particular consideration for the next session and the Radiation Protection
Officer would be adopting a more visible role with more frequent monitoring of
systems in place. The audit programme
would continue using the HASMAP process in one case and more targeted audits in
other areas. There would be further
guidance to be considered in relation to laser safety. A training matrix was presented which identifies
what training was available and what was mandatory.
09/42 University
Fire Officer’s Report
SAF09-P24
The Committee received a report from the University
Fire Officer. It was noted that there
were no fire incidents to report on this occasion. It was pleasing to report that the second
roll out of the AFD systems had been completed and that most building stock was
now covered. The rolling programme of
fire marshal training was well underway.
There had been a number of fire signal activations at
09/43 Audit reports
SAF09-P25a, SAF09-P25b and SAF09-P25c
The Committee received and considered audit reports
in relation to the following areas
.1 Display
Screen Equipment
.2 Pregnancy
.3 Manual
Handling
It was noted that with respect to the DSE audit, the
arrangements were found to be generally
satisfactory and mainly compliant with the
current policy. The audit of manual
handling
procedures had detected an issue following a
site visit. This had rapidly been followed up and
addressed and compliance was confirmed. The
audit of the Pregnancy policy had identified
that staff returning to work within 6
months of having a baby were not being risk assessed
but this was being addressed.
09/44 Environment
Agency Inspection
SAF09-P26
The Committee received a report from the Radiation
Protection Officer on the recent inspection from the Environment Agency. It was
noted that a previous inspection had identified the need to replace wooden
benches in the
09/45 Pandemic
Flu Planning
The HSEM reported that the Pandemic
Flu Working Group was meeting regularly and that planning for this eventuality
had been thoroughly undertaken. All
Heads of Departments had been required to produce contingency plans in the event
of a major outbreak of flu. Hygiene
precautions had been implemented with the widespread installation of hand gel
dispensers throughout campus.
With respect to communications a
dedicated phone line for reporting illness had been established and a
University website had been developed which was currently receiving about 50
hits per day. There had not been a significant number of reported cases of flu
among staff or students to date, although one student had required hospital
treatment. The Committee noted that a further flu episode was expected and that
this might continue into early 2010.
09/46 Blood
Borne Virus Policy
SAF09-P27
The Committee considered a revised policy on Blood Borne
Viruses. The policy, which , was
first
considered 5 years ago required some updating in the light of changing and
current
practice. The
Committee approved the revised policy.
09/47 Lone
Working Policy
SAF09-P28
The
Committee considered a policy on Lone Working.. It was
noted that this had derived from
a previous
code of practice. The key to managing
safety in these circumstances was the risk
assessment, and activities
which required seeing clients individually or visiting premises
off campus
should be also be covered by such
assessments. The policy also emphasised that the use of departmental out of
hours log books or registers is not considered an effective means of ensuring
safety and were instead seen as a means of monitoring the extent of out of hours activity. The Committee approved the policy.
09/48 Manual
Handling Policy
SAF09-P29
The Committee considered a policy
on Manual Handling. The Committee noted that the policy addressed the
legislative requirements in this area. The policy was approved by the Committee.
09/49 Small
Works Policy
The Committee received a verbal
report on the operation of the Small Works policy from the HSEM. It was noted
that it was a requirement that Heads of Departments should, if there was scope
for minor works to be undertaken within their Department, appoint a Small Works
Co-Ordinator and their appointment should be notified to the HSEM. If the work was of a significant nature then
FM should be contacted and a contractor appointed where appropriate.
It was felt that Departments were
not adhering to this policy as no Small Works Co-ordinators
had been
identified to date, despite such work being undertaken in departments.
It was agreed that the HSEM should
contact all Heads of Departments to remind them of this requirement. In the
event that such work was undertaken and no such co-ordinator appointed then
this would be reported by FM as a ‘near miss’. It was further agreed that the HSEM should
add to the annual action plan a task to produce a booklet to alert HoDs to the
key health and Safety policies, given their number and complexity.
Action: HSEM
09/50 Accident
Statistics
SAF09-P30a and SAF09-P30b
The Committee received an analysis
of accident statistics for the period 1 April-30 June 2009 and 1 July-30
September 2009. It was noted that there had only been 1 fall from height rather
than the 7 in the data.
There had been one insurance claim
relating to use of gym equipment which would be defended by the University.
09/51 Laser Safety
SAF09-P31
.1 The Committee received the Minutes of
the Laser Safety Technical Group meeting of 7 October 2009.
SAF09-P32
.2 The Committee noted plans to standardise laser
safety guidance for departments with class 3b and class 4 lasers.
09/52 Any Other Business
.1 The Committee noted that
there appeared to be a significant number of cyclists on
campus who were not using lights. The Security Office reported that it would be
mounting a
campaign to address this in the
immediate future. Cyclists failing to display lights would be
subject to a disciplinary penalty
which would be discharged on production of cycle lights
and a
supporting receipt for them.
.2 It
was noted that there were
some lighting on the central park which was not operational,. It
was requested that this be reported
to Facilities Management.
09/53 Dates of Meetings 2009/10
17 February 2010
9 June 2010
Author: Brigette Vale
Date October 2009
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