Health, Safety and Environment Committee

SAF12-M1

Minutes of the Health, Safety and Environment Committee held on Wednesday 22 February 2012

Mr R Allen	Dr T Bhamra	Prof J Binner (ab)
Mr J Blackwell	Mr A Burgess	Prof P Chung
Mr M Clarson (ab)	Prof P Conway	Mr A Edworthy
Mr T Ellis	Mr T Goodall (ab)	Ms D Grant
Mr M Harris (ab)	Mr R Harrison	Dr B Haskins
Mr N Hunt	Ms R Jermyn (ab)	Mr S Kirkland
Mr A Kowalski	Prof C Linton	Mr C Ludlow
Dr J Mackenzie	Mr I Maslovs	Mrs C Moore
Mr T Neale	Miss L Padolsey (ab)	Prof S Pearce
Mr R Pearson	Dr G Ragsdell	Mr M Stringfellow
Mr B Temple	Ms J Turner	Mrs C Walker
Mr H Weaver

AGENDA

12/1. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Jon Binner, Michael Clarson, Tony Goodall, Mike Harris, Rachael Jermyn, Lucy Padolsey.

12/2. Business of the Agenda

Item 13 was unstarred.

12/3. Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2011 were confirmed (SAF11-M3)

12/4. Matters arising from previous meetings not mentioned elsewhere on the agenda

SAF12-P1, SAF12-P1a

.1 It was noted that progress in relation to the stress management policy was ongoing and a report would be brought to the next meeting of the Committee.

Action: Tim Ellis

.2 It was noted that Council had requested regular reports on headline KPIs in relation

to health and safety on campus. The Committee considered the appropriateness of

specific KPIs and it was proposed that reports would be made against standards achieved in Schools. The measurements would include accident reporting, risk assessments undertaken, training undertaken, and outcomes of internal and external audits. Every School was required to have a Health and Safety Committee as identified under agenda item 13. It was noted that these should be chaired by the Dean. The responsibilities of the Dean had been identified and would be audited. The outcomes of these audits would be reported to Council on an annual basis.

In addition the quarterly monitoring of Schools undertaken by the Planning Office would include health and safety performance.

It was felt that while it was useful to have a paper setting out the responsibilities of Deans of Schools this should be extended to include Heads of Support sections.

It was also agreed that a summary of the outcomes of visits from each regulatory body should be included in each annual report to Council by the HSEM.

Action: HSEM

12/5. Annual Health and Safety Plan 11/12

The Committee received a progress report on the implementation of the Annual Health and Safety Plan from the HSEM. It was noted that there had generally been a poor response from students to attempts to contact them regarding mobility issues and fire evacuations. After three attempts in each case, no further action was taken.

Consideration was being given to establishing earlier contact with the students through the Fire Officer in conjunction with DANS. Specific arrangements for Holywell Park were still under consideration.

The delivery of online training for health and safety was still under development

Alternative methods of collating statistics for accident reporting were under consideration. Considerable progress had been made with the delivery of training, a number of courses were currently available on COSHH, Personal Safety, DSE, and Blood Borne Viruses. Training was also available in relation to radiation work with bespoke training in monitoring radioactivity.

It was noted that a temporary change in the permit for working with radioactive material had been achieved pending any relocation of Chemistry facilities.

12/6. Management of Risks Associated with Plant, Equipment and Building Infrastructure in Academic Areas

SAF12-P2

The Committee considered a policy in relation to the management of risks associated with plant, equipment and building infrastructure in academic areas. FM had already developed a suite of policies in relation to the management of specific risks and this process would ensure that Schools worked to the standards for risk management established by FM in areas which were not necessarily under FM’s control. Examples of the FM policies were included as agenda item 15. At the heart of the proposal was the identification of a ‘duty holder’ who would take responsibility for management of the process. It was agreed that there should be a discussion with the Dean in each case as to who should be the ‘duty holder’. It was not considered appropriate to extend this to tenants who were already subject to lease agreements. FM would not be advising in the area of purchasing equipment but should be kept informed where appropriate. The Committee approved the proposal and agreed that it should also be extended to Support Services.

Action: HSEM and AB.

12/7. Environmental Manager’s Report

SAF12-P3

.1 The Committee received and considered a report from the Environmental Manager (EM) on activities for the period October 2011-February 2012. It was noted that the online report on the Sustainability Team Away day was not yet available. The EM presented four recommendations arising from an audit for the silver standard for Eco campus and proposals relating to the disposal of hazardous waste and mobile phones. The Committee acknowledged the considerable progress and achievements made in this area.

SAF12-P4

.2 The Committee considered recommendations in relation to Eco Campus. It was agreed that Environment should be added to School Health and Safety meetings; it was further agreed that a person responsible for the dissemination and management of environmental compliance should be identified at School/Department level.

It was further agreed that there should be an annual audit by the Sustainability and Environmental Managers to monitor progress on the delivery of the EMS. It was confirmed that this would be a risk based audit which would look at all aspects of recycling associated with Eco campus. The audits would be undertaken by Nik Hunt and Jo Hasbury in conjunction with staff from the HSE section.

SAF12-P5

.3 The Committee considered a recommendation in relation to the creation of centralised depositories for the storage and the disposal of hazardous waste. It was proposed that the current hazardous waste stores in the vicinity of the Chemistry and Materials Departments should now become central depositories for waste. Schools would transport their waste to those locations. If transportation itself was considered hazardous then a risk assessment would be undertaken and special arrangements would be made. This procedure would avoid poor practice on storage developing locally. Training on storage and transportation had already been provided to technical staff, but it could be repeated if required.

The Committee also considered a proposal to enhance the oil storage facility near the Stewart Miller building for use as the central repository for oil disposal.

It was noted that cooking oil was collected by the suppliers and recycled as bio diesel.

The Committee agreed that the proposals to create central waste disposal repositories for hazardous waste and for oil should be approved, provided that the arrangements were monitored.

The Chair undertook to discuss the arrangements with the Head of the School of AACME.

Action NH, CL

SAF12-P6

.4 The Committee considered a recommendation in relation to the disposal of mobile phones on campus. Concern was expressed that data cleansing from obsolete mobile phones was not being properly undertaken prior to disposal. It was proposed that Schools forward their mobile phones to the EM for collection and disposal by a contractor who would cleanse the data prior to recycling them. Any income derived from this process would contribute to the EM budget for waste disposal. There was concern that this would reduce income to Schools who may also wish to use the phones as part of an upgrade transaction. It was noted however that if the income was credited back to Schools there would be an administrative cost and that any income derived from this process would offset the COMA charge.

It was not considered viable to provide a data cleansing service and then return the phone to Schools for disposal. The Committee approve the proposal that mobile phones should be disposed of centrally.

Action NH

12/8. University Fire Officer’s Report

SAF12-P7

The Committee considered a report from the University Fire Officer. It was noted that there were no fire related incidents on campus for the reporting period. There were however two minor fire related incidents at the Holt. The controlled fire evacuation testing had been completed. There was some concern about lack of discipline in relation to fire evacuations and a lack of responsibility taken by teaching staff in the James France building. The Chair agreed to raise this at ALT and refer the matter to Deans. It was noted that there had been a drop in false fire alarm activations on Halls of Residence due to more modern equipment. The attendance of the Fire Service on campus had been reduced to roughly once per year. A training pack had been developed with imago on the condition of fire doors.

Action CL

12/9. First Aid Provision and Honoraria

SAF12-P8

The Committee considered proposals in relation to the payment of honoraria for First Aid provision. It was recommended that the honoraria be withdrawn on a phased basis as the First Aid certificate came up for renewal, that training be provided whenever requested by a School to meet its operational needs and that where First Aid training was a job requirement this should be included in the job description. Members noted that this matter had been discussed on many occasions and that it was a difficult issue to resolve. Nevertheless it was important to adopt a managed and consistent approach to First Aid provision. It was noted that a review of Security provision on campus was currently underway and that there was a requirement to introduce defibrillator training for Security staff. It was agreed that no action affecting Security staff should be undertaken prior to that review. Whilst there was a concern that the withdrawal of the honoraria might lower morale amongst the First Aid staff, it was felt that it was necessary to take such a decision. Accordingly the Committee supported the proposals which would now be taken forward for discussion with the unions by HR.

Action CM/RA

12/10 Bomb Warnings Policy and Procedures

SAF12-P9

The Committee considered a policy in relation to responses to bomb threats. The policy was approved subject to renaming it Bomb Threats Policy and Procedures. The Committee commented that the Policy should be tested in practice at the earliest opportunity.

12/11. Environment Agency Radiation Inspection Report

SAF12-P10

The Commitee received and considered a report following an inspection from the Environment Agency (EA). The inspection visit from the EA had been outstandingly successful. The University had been found to be compliant in all areas and its performance was seen as highly impressive. It was noted that Holywell Park is in an area at risk of flooding and this needed to be considered if the radiochemistry facility is moved there. Flood contingency plans already existed for the Ann Packer and Graham Oldham buildings. When an application is made to the EA for a permit to hold/dispose of radioactive nuclides at Holywell Park, similar flood contingency plans and risk assessments will be required.

12/12. Accident and Insurance Statistics

SAF12-P11

The Committee received an analysis of accident statistics for the period 1 October 2011 to 31 January 2012 together with comparative data.

It was noted that in the quarterly report of accidents reported by category, there were 91 accidents reported only one of which required onward reporting to the HSE under RIDDOR. The case concerned a member of staff who injured their ankle when they stepped on a pipe.

Clarification was requested regarding the accident listed as an explosion.

(Secretary’s Note: The cause was found to be a CO2 gas supply line connected to a piece of analytical equipment which burst under pressure. The wrong pipe had been used at too high a pressure)

The Committee noted the chart of RIDDOR reportable injuries across 121 Universities and Institutions in 2010. The figures are reported as numbers of incidents per 1000 members of staff. Loughborough’s position had improved from 2009 with a reduction in the rate of accidents from 6.21 to 2.15. At Loughborough the overall accident frequency rate is in the upper quartile. This might be explained by the encouragement given to staff to report all incidents even if the incident did not result in an injury. Accident/incident trends are easier to identify if more incidents are reported. As a result successful interventions have been made, particularly in the case of manual handling.

SAF12-P12

.2 The Committee received a report on insurance claims for the period 1 May-30 September 2011. Four new claims had been made in this reporting period. One of these claims related to a student who injured his ankle in the long jump pit. Liability for this injury has been admitted.

12/13. Responsibilities of Deans in Relation to Health and Safety

SAF12-P13

The Committee received and noted a summary report of the responsibilities of Deans of Schools in relation to Health and Safety under the new institutional structure. This item had been unstarred to ensure that there was an action on Deans to note their responsibilities and to ensure that appropriate structures were in place in their Schools. It was felt that this document should be regarded as good practice and extended to all support services.

Action Deans

12/14. Annual Report of the Radiation Protection Officer

SAF12-P14

The Committee received and noted the annual report of the Radiation Protection Officer for 2011 for submission to Council.

12/15. The following Facilities Management Policy documents were noted:

(i) SAF12-P15

Management of Legionella

(ii) SAF12-P16

Pressure Systems

(iii) SAF12-P17

Fume Cupboards and Local Exhaust Ventilation

12/16 Any Other Business

It was noted that no students were present at the meeting. The Chair agreed to raise this with LSU.

Action CL

12/17. Date of Next Meeting

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Author: Brigette Vale

Date February 2012