Health, Safety and Environment Committee
SAF09-M2
Minutes of the meeting of the Health, Safety and Environment
Committee held on 10 June 2009
|
Mr J
Blackwell |
Mr J
Bernstein |
Mr M
Brown |
|
Mr T
Burgess |
Mr M
Clarson |
Prof P
Conway |
|
Dr J
Dearnley |
Ms S
Ettinger (ab) |
Dr R
Haskins |
|
Mr R
Harrison |
Mr A
Hodgson |
Mrs W
Jones |
|
Mr D
Jordan |
Mr J
Kirby (ab) |
Mr A
Kowalski |
|
Dr J
Mckenzie |
Mrs C
Moore |
Mr T
Neale |
|
Prof R
Parkin (ab) |
Prof S
Pearce |
Mrs L
Sands |
|
Dr S
Shirreffs |
Mr W
Spinks |
Mr M
Stringfellow |
|
Mr J
Thomas (ab) |
Prof P
Warwick |
Ms L
Young (ab) |
In attendance: Dr B P Vale
09/19 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Sarah Ettinger, James Kirby, Rob
Parkin,
John
09/20 Business of the Agenda
No items were unstarred
09/21 Minutes
(SAF09–M1
attached)
The
Minutes of the meeting held on 18 February 2009 were confirmed.
09/22 Matters Arising from Previous Meetings not Mentioned Elsewhere on
the Agenda
.1 Membership of HSE Committee
It was noted that Senate
and Council had approved an amendment to the composition of HSE Committee such
that only one of the lay members of the Committee was required to be a member
of Council. It was reported that the
vacancy on the Committee for a lay member remained unfilled.
.2 Annual report of the Radiation
Protection Officer .
The Committee was pleased
to note that, further to Minute 09/14 of the previous meeting, work to replace
the wooden benches in the
.3 Audit reports
The HSEM
reported that there would be three full HASMAP audits per annum and the next
one would be the Sports Development Centre. In addition there was a programme
of smaller scale audits focussing on implementation of University policies. Future planned audits would be in SSES in
relation to the Blood Borne Viruses Policy and to LUSAD in respect of the
Manual Handling Policy.
.4 The
Committee noted that a policy on staff overseas travel arrangements would be
brought forward to its autumn meeting .
The recently approved policy on Biological Safety and the amendments to
the HAV policy had been successfully implemented. The occupational Health
Adviser confirmed that she had been in contact with staff in CBE concerning the
HAV policy.
09/23 Review Of
Committee Effectiveness
At the request of Audit Committee and as part of a regular
annual review of Committee effectiveness, members considered the effectiveness of HSE Committee.
In discussion it was felt that the recent changes to the membership of the
Committee had limited direct links to departments. This was because academic staff attendance at the
Committee was variable. It was agreed that it would be useful to invite
Departmental Safety Officers to attend the Committee on behalf of each of the Faculties
and it was recommended to Senate and Council
that the membership be amended accordingly.
Action BPV
09/24 Annual
Health and Safety Plan 08/09
The HSEM provided the Committee with an update on the
implementation of the Annual Health and
Safety Plan for 08/09. It was noted that
in respect of fire safety 75% of all fire hydrants had been checked for
satisfactory pressure; 65% of the second round of fire risk assessments had
been undertaken; 90% of all buildings had upgraded fire detection systems
installed; and further progress had been made in conjunction with Student
Welfare in improving the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs). A DVD for students on fire safety had been
produced, which was shown to the Committee, who warmly welcomed this
initiative. Refresher training for fire
marshals was underway and discussions were being held with IT Services
regarding e-training on fire safety. The
HSEM was involved in business continuity planning which involved identifying
key assets to enable the Fire Service to identity target areas for protection
in the event of a fire.
With respect to
improving communications a further newsletter would be produced in July and a
DSO forum was also scheduled for July.
New policies had been introduced in the course of the year
and additional policies on overseas travel and on manual handling would be
forthcoming.
An audit of Facilities Management in respect of hazardous
waste management had been discussed and audit criteria are being drawn up to
complement the EcoCampus standards.
A matrix of training opportunities for all staff was under
development by the HSE office .
Considerable progress had been made on the introduction of
PEEPs for vulnerable students, however about 25% of students were not coming
forward to enable planning to be undertaken.
There remained a concern that in such instances staff may put themselves
at risk should an incident occur. It was
emphasised that the proper approach was to place students in a place of refuge
then report to the HSE Office, the Fire and Rescue Service would then rescue
the individual concerned.
09/25 University
Fire Officer’s Report
SAF09-P12
The Committee received a report
from the University Fire Officer. It was noted that there
Had recently been three fire
incidents, two in University managed property and one in a Unite managed hall.
In one incident and individual had put themselves at risk by re-entering a building
where there was a confirmed fire. This was inappropriate and further training been
provided.
It was
further noted that substantial amounts of additional heating equipment was
coming
onto
campus, and guidance has been issued on its safe use where this occurs.
The
Committee considered a report on the number of breaches of fire safety
regulations
that had
occurred in residential accommodation since October 2009 and the disciplinary
action
that had been taken. The data had been collected via a new form that had been
introduced
to monitor and report incidents by Wardens. It was noted that there was a range
of
penalties of being imposed and that a proportion of them did not comply with
the
previously
agreed recommended level of fine. The Committee acknowledged that
tampering
with fire detection and safety equipment was extremely serious and that these
were
offences which were not being committed in any way unconsciously. It was however
the role
of the Committee to monitor such offences, consider trends in activity and ensure
that they
were being addressed. If the Committee was not satisfied with the evidence it
received, then it could use its own powers to address
the issue. The Committee did not
feel it
was its role to monitor the disciplinary action take by Wardens and it was
noted that
Student
Disciplinary Committee was investigating the consistency of fines imposed for
offences
on campus. It was agreed that the Committee would need to receive trend data and
regular management information on all such incidents in order to decide what
action needed to be taken. It was felt
that the form was a useful recording tool and it was agreed that if the Wardens
wished to amend its format, to incorporate other penalties other than fines, then this should be discussed with the
University Fire Officer.
It was
further noted that there had been difficulties with the fire safety equipment
at Harry
French
Hall. This was a UNITE managed Hall, but
the University was trying to assist with
finding a
resolution.
Action: RH
09/26 Compressed
Gas Safety Policy
SAF09-P13
The Committee considered and
approved a policy on the safe use and storage of compressed gases. It was noted
that all University tenants were expected to comply with University policies
and could be visited to ensure compliance.
09/27 Student
Placements Policy
SAF09-P14
The Committee considered and approved
a policy on student placements
09/28 Laser
Safety Policy
SAF09-P15
.1 The Committee considered and approved a policy on laser
safety
SAF09-P16
.2 Laser Safety Technical Group
The Minutes of the Laser Safety
Technical Group were noted
09/29 Policy on
Smoking at Work
SAF09-P17
The Committee considered a revised
policy on Smoking at Work, which introduced a 3 m exclusion zone around
buildings for those who wished to smoke outside. It was felt that it
was not reasonable to make the
campus a smoke free zone. It was noted that this
amendment was being introduced
following a complaint to the Health and Safety Executive
by a member of staff. There was
some concern about whether the policy was manageable
and practicable, but that would
become apparent once it was implemented.
It was considered that smoking
shelters were not appropriate and should not be introduced. It now remained with Facilities Management to
introduce the appropriate bins and signage. The Committee approved the amended
Smoking at Work Policy.
Action: AB
09/30 University Risk Register
SAF09 –P18
The University Risk Register in
relation to Health, Safety and Environment matters was considered by the
Committee as part of a regular annual review process. It was noted that the
risk of pandemic flu was being reviewed as part of emergency planning.
09/31 Accident
Statistics
SAF09-P19
The Committee received an analysis of accident statistics for the period
1 January-31 March 2009. The HSEM reported that there were four potential claims under the employers’
liability insurance . These involved a student pole vaulting incident; an
incident
with a contractor in a boiler house; a student head injury and a slip in
a car park in snowy
conditions.
09/32 Matters Raised by Departmental Safety Officers
No matters were raised
under this item
09/33 Annual Report from Ethical Advisory Committee
SAF09-P20
The Committee received the annual
report from the Ethical Advisory Committee
09/34 Schedule of Meetings for Next session
To be confirmed
Author: Brigette Vale
Date June 2009
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