Policy

Core health and safety arrangements

Updated on 1 November 2023

Health and safety policy for schools and directorates

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Purpose

To ensure that Schools and Directorates have appropriate arrangements in place for complying with core health and safety requirements.

Objectives

To ensure that School and Directorate management are aware of their responsibilities regarding:

Policy statement

Schools and Directorates are required to ensure that health and safety is managed effectively to prevent adverse health and safety events resulting from activities being undertaken. Such events include ill health or injury to staff, students or others and damage to equipment or building contents. To ensure the effective management of health and safety, Schools and Directorates will implement the core health and safety procedures and practices detailed below and will also comply with other University policies as appropriate to the activities undertaken.

Induction of new staff and postgraduate research Students

Deans and Directors are responsible for ensuring that all their new staff and post-graduate research students receive instruction and information on health and safety within a week of starting work, ideally on the first day. This task will normally be delegated to the person’s immediate line manager/supervisor. Guidance on what should be covered is found in appendix 1 (on SharePoint) to this policy. A training record must be kept. 

The People Directorate will provide details to new staff that includes information on the induction process, including the form to complete. Schools are required to ensure that post-graduate research students receive this information too. Line managers and supervisors will check that new starts have reviewed relevant sections of Safety Services’ website, local intranet/SharePoint sites and other related information as appropriate.

All new staff and postgraduate research students are automatically enrolled onto on-line induction training in health and safety. They are required to complete the training within two weeks of starting and their line manager/supervisor will check to ensure that this done. Training must be completed as follows:

Training modules Cohort who must complete
Core Modules (1-6) All staff and research postgraduate students
Management modules (7&8) All staff with management responsibility
Introduction to Laboratory Safety (9) All staff and research postgraduate students who work in laboratories
Specialist laboratory modules (10-14) Laboratory staff and research postgraduate students who work with such hazards


Note that the online training complements, but does not replace, the local induction process. See section 4.2 (Related guidance and resources) below for a link to the training.

Maintaining a safe working environment

Many incidents causing injury or ill health are preventable and so the University’s central health and safety arrangements are reviewed and updated regularly to reduce the risks of such incidents. These arrangements are freely available to staff and students, and Schools/Directorates are informed of any changes made. School/Directorate management must make themselves aware of the arrangements and ensure that staff and students familiarise themselves as necessary and relevant to their activities.

Schools/Directorates must likewise review their local arrangements to reduce, as far as is reasonably practicable, the potential for such incidents to occur. Schools/Directorates must also ensure that people they are responsible for are aware of local policies and guidance, and are informed of changes.

Correcting deficiencies before a person is injured or made ill is a key principle of health and safety management. All staff and students are encouraged to report any matter that they believe has potential to cause ill health or injury. This can be reported via the Safety Services web form but may also by reporting to a local health and safety advisor, manager/supervisor or trade union representative. Local management or Estates & Campus Services, as appropriate, will review reports and take appropriate reactive measures to reduce risks. Consultation with Safety Services and union representatives will take place as necessary when considering actions.

Management of all areas will also undertake proactive monitoring (e.g. safety inspections) as detailed in SPA01 – School/Directorate Health and Safety Management Policy to help identify deficiencies so that they can be corrected. 

The University recognises that the most frequent cause of injury in its premises is slipping, tripping and falling, and that some of these incidents result in serious injury. The University is committed to trying to reduce the number of these incidents and the consequent suffering and other losses that follow them.

All staff and students are encouraged to help in this effort by considering their own actions and reporting any non-injury slips, trips and falls via the methods stated above. Human behaviour is an underlying cause of many slipping, tripping and falling incidents. Therefore, all staff and students are asked to bear in mind that such incidents can happen to them and to take care in the selection of appropriate footwear, in wet and slippery conditions and when using stairs and steps.

Safety Services will provide training to School/Directorate health and safety advisors on the causes of slipping, tripping and falling incidents and the means of preventing them. A checklist is provided in appendix 2 (on SharePoint) for use during the risk assessment of any premises and activities.

Safety Services will collate information received on slipping tripping and falling incidents and present this periodically to the University Health, Safety and Welfare Committee, as well as analysing whether there is any pattern in these events so that remedial actions can be taken.

Risk assessment 

Risk assessment forms the basis of practicable methods of reducing injuries and ill health. The University is committed to promoting the thorough use of this methodology in all activities under its control. Suitable and sufficient assessments that allow the management of significant risks are required by legislation and these must be reviewed regularly and updated as needed.  Schools/Directorates will ensure that Staff and students are trained to undertake risk assessments appropriate to their position and type of work.

Deans/Directors are responsible for ensuring suitable and sufficient risk assessments are carried out for all spaces and activities under their control.  Usually, they delegate this task to the member of staff undertaking an activity and/or responsible for a space within the school/directorate, with input from their School/Directorate health and safety advisor. The completed risk assessment must then be approved and countersigned by the appropriate manager. A basic risk assessment form and guidance is given in appendix 3 (on SharePoint), together with details on how to access an online risk assessment system.  Specialised and higher risk activities may require input and advice from Safety Services or specialists in a particular field. 

Areas that are centrally managed, such as lecture theatres, tutorial rooms and IT rooms are designed to be of low risk. The person leading an activity within such spaces is required to undertake a dynamic risk assessment on commencement of the activity to ensure that no significant risks are present, such as blocked fire exits or trip hazards. If identified, such risks must be addressed immediately and then tickets raised with E&CS as appropriate to remove the risk.

All work/study activities incurring a risk of injury or ill-health above the level of risk prevalent in daily living require assessment, which must be recorded.  Where that assessment identifies that such a risk is significant, the outcomes must be brought to the attention of all people who may be affected by that activity. The risk assessment will take account of existing control measures, and where these are not sufficient to reduce the overall risk to an acceptable level, other control measures must be implemented. 

In all cases, a hierarchy of risk reduction measures must be adopted, starting with avoiding the activity altogether, changing the activity to reduce risk, isolating the risk process, reducing the length or level of exposure to the risk, reducing the number of people exposed to risk, or as a last resort using personal protective equipment. A combination of controls may be required.

Risk assessments must be reviewed and updated immediately after:

  • an incident
  • if the risk assessment is suspected to be incorrect/inaccurate
  • a complaint
  • a change in activity
  • upon new information being available
  • in addition, they must be reviewed and updated regularly*

*Most risk assessments and supporting documents (e.g. safe operating procedures) should be reviewed every two years unless a reason (as above) required a review sooner. Some risk assessments for high-risk activities (e.g. high containment biological hazard work) will require more frequent review.

Safety Services will provide training on risk assessment to staff so that they can undertake the assessment of routine risks and will provide help and support with more complex issues upon request. Guidance on various hazard types is contained within specific policies and guidance documents on the Safety Services website.

All risk assessments must be retained for at least 5 years and be available for inspection by Health and Safety Executive Inspectors, Safety Services, Insurance Surveyors, Union Health and Safety Representatives and others who have reasonable grounds for seeing these.

Lone/home working

There are increased risks to staff and students when they have to work alone within University premises or at other locations (for example, when home working) and such risks must be reduced to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.  However, there will be some circumstances where it is unacceptable for staff or students to be working alone, and these will be detailed in School/Directorate H&S Policies, with the advice of Safety Services where necessary. In these situations, there will be no measures that can substitute for working accompanied and, in these rare cases, at least two people must be involved in the activity.  Before undertaking activities, staff and students must read relevant risk assessments to understand controls required or restrictions imposed.

Deans/Directors are responsible for ensuring lone working situations are assessed so that reasonable and practicable measures are implemented to reduce the risk to a similar level as working accompanied, or during normal hours.  Situations where lone working is not allowed must be clearly documented in School/Directorate H&S Policies.

All workers who will undertake lone working must complete an assessment of their suitability for lone working (including lone working at home) and this must be signed off by their manager prior to lone working starting. See appendix 4 (on SharePoint) for details of how to access an online lone worker questionnaire.

Examples of the hazards from some lone working situations are given below, together with generic suggestions for risk reduction. 

Situation Hazard Suggested risk reduction measures
Office, late work on campus or home working Intruders, injury (e.g. fall), ill health Keep doors locked, emergency phone, pre-arranged phone check time with manager or family/friend
Interviews 1:1 Assault Panic alarms, emergency phone
Lab work Chemicals, biological and energy hazards intruders, injury (e.g. fall) Select workers by competence, limit hazards, training, improve security of access, security checks, emergency phone/alarm
Maintenance injury (e.g. fall, trauma), ill health Check in/out procedure, training, mobile phone

In all cases where emergency communications form part of the risk reduction measures, it is essential to check regularly that arrangements are effective/operational and to train staff in their use.

These hazards and associated control measures must be entered in Risk Assessment records and reviewed regularly or where there is any significant change in the activity or the level of risk (see above risk assessment section).

Safety Services (email safety@dundee.ac.uk) can assist in risk assessment and reduction for unusual situations.

For Out of Hours access to campus buildings, the Estates & Campus Services’ policy must be adhered to, including completion of the out of hours access protocol linked within the policy.

See appendix 4 (on SharePoint) for how to access the Lone Worker Questionnaire and hybrid (home) working information.

Manual handling

Manual handling is the term used to describe the transporting or supporting of a load by hand or bodily force. This includes lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling or putting down a load.

Deans/Directors are responsible for ensuring that hazardous manual handling activities are avoided as far as is reasonably practicable. They must ensure their staff consider whether hazardous manual handling activities are necessary or whether the desired result could be achieved in an entirely different way by, for example:

  • carrying out the process in situ
  • bringing the process to the load rather than the other way round
  • automating or mechanising the process (e.g. the use of forklift trucks, hand operated pallet trucks or trolleys)

Where hazardous manual handling activities cannot be eliminated, Deans/Directors must ensure that their staff carry out a manual handling assessment and adequate control measures are introduced to reduce the risks to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.  Manual handling assessments must be reviewed every two years, or sooner if there has been a significant change in the activity to which they relate, or other reasons (e.g. an incident) require a review to be undertaken.

Deans/Directors must ensure that staff are provided with sufficient information, instruction and training about the manual handling tasks that they are required to undertake. For staff who carry out limited manual handling tasks (e.g. office based staff) the information for staff available in the staff health and safety handbook (available on the Safety Services SharePoint site: Handbooks and guidance) and online induction training will be sufficient for this purpose. Staff who regularly carry out more hazardous manual handling activities may also require training in good manual handling techniques.

Safety Services will arrange appropriate training and will assist, when asked, with assessments.

A manual handling risk assessment form is included in appendix 5 (on SharePoint), along with links to HSE tools for assessing risks.

Equipment used for work purposes

Correct selection, use and maintenance of work equipment is essential to minimise the risk of injuries to staff, students, and others.

Work equipment is defined in the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 as installations, machines, appliances, and tools for use at work (whether exclusively or not). This is an extremely broad definition that includes a wide range of equipment from simple hand tools to complex machines, including vehicles. It includes furniture, IT equipment, and disposable items. In simple terms, anything used for work purposes is subject to the regulations.

Deans/Directors must ensure that at the time of purchase, all work equipment is fit for purpose and complies with the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (if applicable).

Deans/Directors must ensure that activities involving work equipment are risk assessed to manage the risk of injury to staff, students and others. Activities include:

  • installation and commissioning
  • adjustments
  • normal use
  • cleaning and maintenance
  • breakdown and repair
  • dismantling/removal/disposal

The risk assessment must consider:

  • suitability of work equipment (i.e. used for its intended purpose in an appropriate environment)
  • inspection regime and maintenance schedule of work equipment
  • mechanical, electrical, radiation, thermal, noise, vibration, materials and substances, and ergonomic hazards of work equipment and control measures
  • training and supervision requirements of staff and students
  • instruction and information given to staff and students
  • monitoring procedures
  • statutory inspections necessary and records of maintenance, testing and repair

Deans/Directors can delegate this task to line managers, who must ensure work equipment is inspected and maintained by competent individuals (including at specified minimum intervals if this is required as part of statutory inspection and testing). They must provide appropriate training, information and instruction to staff and students, and ensure work equipment is used correctly through adequate supervision.

The risk assessment must be recorded to the relevant extent wherever there is a significant risk of injury identified or there is need for training, instruction, maintenance, or statutory inspection. Risk assessments for low-risk equipment may take the form of a code of conduct (e.g. “good workshop practice”) that users are required to follow. The staff handbook provides a code of conduct that is sufficient to address the risks of most work equipment within office environments.

Deans/Directors must ensure that risk assessments, inspection records, and maintenance logs are kept for a minimum of 5 years and reviewed at least every 2 years. 

Staff and students must use work equipment according to instructions and training provided, and must report defects in work equipment to their line manager/supervisor.

The School/Directorate Health and Safety advisor should co-ordinate risk assessments and report non-compliance to Deans/Directors.

Visitors

The University of Dundee has responsibilities as an occupier of premises and as an employer for the health and safety of anyone on site, irrespective of their purpose for being there, and seeks to ensure that visitors do not suffer any injury while on site. Essentially, a “visitor” is anyone who is not an employee or student at the University, but who is on University property. “Visitors” include contractors, members of the public, children of staff and students, and people employed by another employer who are conducting business at the University.

When hosting organised events, the requirements on the Events Management Policy must be applied and will over-ride the below basic arrangements for visitors. 

Staff who are hosting visitors on site must, as appropriate to the nature of the visitors and the visit, including duration of visit, ensure that either the visitors are accompanied at all times by an appropriate member of staff who can ensure their health and safety in the event of an emergency, or the visitors are informed at the start of their visit of the emergency arrangements that apply in the parts of the University that they are visiting. These include:

  • describing the sound of the fire alarm and the actions to be taken if the alarm sounds
  • locations of fire alarm call points
  • pointing out the emergency exit routes from the building
  • Informing visitors of the arrangements for managing incidents, including first aid provision
  • explaining any other safety-critical procedures that apply at that location (e.g. infection risks, radiation hazards, use of personal protective equipment, etc.)

A record of providing this information to the visitors should be kept, including acknowledgement (e.g. signature) by the visitors of having received the information. 

Where visitors are unfamiliar with the location or have vulnerabilities, additional controls may be required. This could include additional temporary signage and suspension of certain higher hazard activities while the visitors are present, or provision of a “guide” or supervision.

Detailed arrangements for Contractors involved in construction work can be found in Safety Policy Arrangement 3 - Building Safety.

Where visitors are carrying out an activity under the control of the University, the host must risk assess any activities in which they are involved and take appropriate actions to ensure that sufficient information is given for their safe participation.

Children and young people

The University owes an enhanced duty of care to children and young people due to their immaturity and potential lack of hazard awareness. Therefore, more detailed and thorough instruction and supervision must be applied. For the purposes of this policy ‘child’ and ‘young person’ are as defined in The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The Director of Campus Services is responsible for providing and maintaining safe routes through the City Campus. They will ensure that hazardous areas, installations and materials are secured, and warning signs posted to prevent access by children. They will take reasonable steps to prevent children using the Campus as an ad hoc playground. Staff should report unacceptable behaviour by children to Campus Security.

Heads of facilities that may be routinely used by children or young people (e.g. Institute of Sport and Exercise, Botanic Gardens, Exhibitions) will carry out a risk assessment that recognises the additional risks arising from the physical and mental immaturity of children and young people.

Work experience and organised events

Deans/Directors providing work experience placements, open days or other organised events must appoint an Event Organiser who will liaise with all parties. The Events Management Policy must be complied with. The Event Organiser will plan events thoroughly and complete a risk assessment before the children and/or young people arrive on site. This will include:

  • Obtaining information from carers/teachers/parents/guardians about the abilities and needs of all the children/young people
  • Designing activities appropriate to these needs and abilities
  • Ensuring that only appropriate spaces are utilised for the activities
  • Providing information to carers/teachers/parents/guardians about the event (for example: risk assessment) and any requirements (for example: clothing and footwear)
  • Ensuring any additional support needs or vulnerabilities of children/young people are considered (.e.g. evacuation of mobility-impaired individuals).
  • Ensuring a consent form has been completed; having procedures for a formal hand-over in place (for example: signing in/out, taking a register and regular head counts)
  • Providing adequate levels of supervision that considers the age and number of children/young people, the location and the activities undertaken; instructing the children on what is expected of them, who to contact for assistance and what to do in an emergency; Staff should never be put in a situation where they are alone with children.
  • Ensuring that staff in charge of children have been subject to a Disclosure Scotland check as appropriate (See links in section 4 (Related guidance and resources) or contact People Services for guidance). 

The following areas are deemed unacceptable for children to enter under any circumstances due to the nature of the hazards present:

  • CL2 and CL3 Biohazard laboratories
  • Supervised or Controlled radiation work rooms
  • Laser facilities where open laser work takes place with class 3B or 4 lasers
  • Plant rooms
  • Any space meeting the legal definition of a “confined space”
  • Any space in which there is a risk to health from extreme cold or heat, noise or vibration

During work experience, children should only be put into lower risk environments and must be given appropriate supervision. They must not enter any restricted areas alone. Subject to robust risk assessment, children may be allowed to enter a higher risk area (but NOT any of those prohibited areas listed above) as long as they are engaged in low-risk activities (e.g. observation), are under direct personal supervision by a competent person, and are not exposed to the higher risks arising from the activities or location.

A template risk assessment for children in University premises during an organised visit can be obtained from the Safety Services SharePoint website (see section 4.2 below).

Young people at work

Consideration must also be given to specific restrictions under employment and health and safety law regarding young people at work (i.e. young persons employed within the University). Any risks that are specific to or increased for young persons must be considered in the risk assessment. These risks and any potential health effects must be communicated to the individual as well as their parent / guardian prior to them commencing work. Regulation 19 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 places specific requirements on employers of young people and must be complied with. Risk assessments for all activities must take account of this regulation and be amended as appropriate when a young person is involved.

In line with further restrictions imposed by Regulation 19, certain activities are prohibited for young persons employed by the University. These include work which:

  • Exposes them to substances chronically harmful to health (e.g. toxic, carcinogenic, mutagens, pathogens or exposure to radiation - ionising or non-ionising)
  • Involves interaction with dangerous machines (e.g. lathes; angle grinders; hand-fed wood working machinery such as band saws, planning machines; vehicles such as tractors, ATVs, lift trucks).
  • Is beyond their physical or psychological capacity
  • Causes exposure to extreme cold, heat, noise or vibration
  • Involves a risk of accidents which they cannot reasonably be expected to recognise or avoid due to their inexperience and/or lack of training or attention to safety.

Exceptions can be granted to apprentices or trainees where exposure to the above risks is specifically required as part of their training and providing high levels of control and supervision are implemented. Full justification is required for why the young person must be allowed to be exposed to such hazards as part of their training.

Unofficial visits

The University operates a nursery for children of staff and students and has a range of family friendly policies and procedures intended to support parents. The University is a place of work and members of the University community should not normally bring their children into work, except for organised events.

The University recognises, however, that for some parents/guardians it may be necessary to bring their children into University premises whilst working/studying. Some locations, such as the Main Library, have suitable “family areas” where children can accompany their parents/guardians.

Outside of such locations, staff or students may only bring children they are responsible for into University premises in exceptional circumstances and for the minimum duration possible, providing this has been agreed in advance with their line manager/supervisor. The parent/guardian must always provide strict and close personal supervision and cannot leave the child unattended in any University space or ask others to supervise the child on their behalf. 

Children are only allowed into low-risk areas such as offices and tea-rooms. They are not allowed to be taken into lectures, tutorials or other teaching activities, or taken into/through high-risk areas such as laboratories or workshops. The manager responsible for the area will insist that the parent/guardian and child leave the area if they consider that the child could be exposed to unacceptable risks, or if the child could cause an unacceptable level of disruption to other staff or students. Staff should bring non-compliance with this policy to the parent/guardian’s attention in the first instance if possible, or if not, to the manager of the area. Persistent non-compliance should be reported to their Dean/Director who will take suitable action to resolve the situation. A procedure to be used if unattended children are found on campus is available (see section 4.2 below (Related guidance and resources).

Visitors should be asked not to bring children to the University other than as part of organised events. Where this is not possible, the children must be supervised at all times during the visit by their parent/guardian and be restricted to low-risk areas, for example offices and tea-rooms.

Incidents

All incidents involving children on any University of Dundee campus or occurring when they are involved in any activity under the control of the University must be reported to Safety Services using the standard University incident reporting form. Serious incidents must be reported immediately by telephone to Campus Security.

Work at height 

Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries. The University has a legal obligation to comply with the Work at height Regulations 2005 (WAHR) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that employees, students and others are protected from risks associated with working at height.

All staff, students and contractors must avoid working at height where reasonably practicable and implement suitable and sufficient controls where it cannot be avoided. This includes ensuring the safety of others who may be impacted by the work at height (e.g. those working beneath or near to the work at height activity).

Work at Height refers to work in any place where, without suitable and sufficient controls in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury*. This includes any work or access/egress to enable work:

  • Above ground/floor level (including where the floor level is below ground)
  • Where a person could fall from an edge through an opening or fragile surface or
  • Where a person could fall from ground/floor level into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground

*Within the University, work undertaken at a height above ground/floor level of less than 0.5m is not considered to be work at height. Work at height also does not include use of a permanent staircase. However, the risks associated with such work must still be managed.

Specific requirements relating to work at height are that:

  • Working at height is avoided where other less hazardous means of conducting the work are reasonably practical.
  • All work at height is properly planned organized and subject to a risk assessment. 
  • Ladders are only used where justified by risk assessment and other less hazardous means of working at height have been considered.
  • All work at height takes account of weather conditions that could endanger health and safety.
  • All those involved in work at height are trained and competent to do so.
  • The place where work at height is carried out is risk assessed and is suitable for the activity. 
  • Equipment for work at height is appropriately inspected and maintained by a competent person.
  • The risk of falling is properly controlled.
  • The risks from fragile surfaces are avoided and where not possible properly controlled.
  • The risks from falling objects are properly controlled.
  • Nothing is thrown or tipped from height without being risk assessed and controls put in place to protect those at risk from being struck. 
  • “bombing” or throwing items from a scaffold is prohibited.
  • Nothing is stored or transported in such a way that its movement is likely to injure anyone.

Deans and Directors are responsible for ensuring that, within their area of responsibility, everything that is reasonably practicable is done to remove the need for work at height. Where work at height is required, they must ensure that all relevant aspects of the Working Safely at Height Handbook are complied with.

All staff and students must avoid working at height if possible and comply with all relevant aspects of the Working Safely at Height Handbook if work at height is required.

 

Related University policies

Related University guidance and resources

Document information

Equality Impact Assessment

This policy has undergone screening for impact on protected characteristics covered under the Equality Act 2010 and no impact has been identified.

Approvals and renewals

Document Name SPA02 – Core Health and Safety Arrangements
Status Approved
Responsible officer/department/school People Directorate
Policy owner People and Organisational Development Committee
Date last approved 26/10/2023
Due for review 26/10/2025
Authorised and approved for publication People and Organisational Development Committee
Date authorised for publication 26/10/2023
Information classification: public/internal Public
Location in repository NA
Approval route and history H&S Advisers’ Working Group, Health, Safety & Welfare Committee, People and Organisational Development Committee
Code NA

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Safety Services

safety@dundee.ac.uk
From Health Safety and Wellbeing
Corporate information category Health and safety