Minutes of Health and Safety
Committee Meeting Held on
Wednesday 14 October 2015 at 2pm
Present: Mr Steve Harwood, Senior Health and Safety Adviser (Chair)
Mr Steven Westcough, Health and Safety Adviser (Secretary)
Mrs Debby Roberts, Assistant Director, Campus Services
Miss Hazel Wright, Well-being Services Co-ordinator, Student Services
Miss Dawn Culley, Darlington Campus Representative
Miss Manon Goetschel, Students’ Union Representative
Mr Robert Dove, UNISON
Miss Emma Teare, UCU
Apologies:Ms Juliet Amos, Executive Director of Human Resources
Ms Anne Richardson, Occupational Health Adviser
Mr Gordon Smyrell, School Manager
Mr Craig Hall, UNISON
675Notes of the last Meeting
It was agreed:
1to approve as an accurate record the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday,13May 2015.
676Matters Arising
Further to minute 669 (3), email staff and students in the affected Schools with information regarding the symptoms of mumps and how to respond if approached by a student who suspects they may have mumps, it was noted:
1that an email was sent to the relevant staff and students outlining the symptoms of mumps and how to respond to any queries or concerns.
Further to minute 673 (2), Develop a system where all Accident Report Forms received by the Health and Safety Centre would be acknowledged by email, it was noted:
1that a system has now been developed whereby anyone submitting an accident report form is emailed an acknowledgement from the Health and Safety Centre.
2that the UNISON representative queried whether a similar system could be implemented for the submission of Health and Safety Concern Report Forms.
It was agreed:
3to investigate the implementation of a system for acknowledging the receipt of Health and Safety Concern Report Forms.
Further to minute 673 (3),Amend the Accident Report Forms to include email contact details, it was noted:
1that the forms have now been amended appropriately and are available online and from the Health and Safety Centre and School Administration Offices.
677Occupational Health Report
It was noted:
1that referrals to Occupational Health are increasing, however this is expected due to the time of year.
2that the main reason for referrals is shown to be mental health problems, namely work related stress and all of these individuals have been provided with stress risk assessment forms so that an appropriate action plan can be formulated.
3that a number of cleaners contacted Occupational Health requesting Hepatitis B vaccinations for those who work in student accommodation, citing concerns that they had come into contact with blood.
4that further research was carried out in case the guidelines had changed and a risk assessment was carried out by the Occupational Health Adviser and Senior Health and Safety Adviser.
5that therehave been no changes in the guidelines regarding which employees are at risk and there are no recommendations for cleaning staff to be vaccinated.
6that the risk assessment identified that plastic aprons and gloves should be made available on request.
7that written advice has been provided to the cleaners and Assistant Director of Campus Services.
8that health monitoring for all drivers and night workers had been completed.
678Safety Report
It was noted:
1that Health and Safety training continued with the following sessions being carried out:
- Caretaker training which included information on risk assessment, manual handling and hazard identification.
- Student Accommodation Warden Fire Safety training including Re-setting of fire alarms.
- AED use for Sports Staff.
- Risk Assessment Training.
- Health and Safety Awareness for Learning and Teaching.
2that the Health and Safety Advisers had attended the following training sessions:
- Construction Design and Management Regulation changes.
- Lift Rescue training for The Curve, Middlesbrough Tower and Library.
- Asbestos Awareness.
3that the Senior Health and Safety Adviser assisted with a Chemistry at Work event ran by the School of Science and Engineering.
4that work was undertaken on the ECO Campus Gold Award submission.
5that fire drill evacuations for the University’s student residential accommodation including Central Halls had been carried out.
6that the Health and Safety Advisers continued to work with colleagues in Estates on the development and handover of The Curve, the Campus Heart and closure of Southfield Road, Orion Building refurbishment, Fusion Hive, Health and Fitness Centre Olympia extension and Central Halls.
7that the Senior Health and Safety Adviser attended a meeting of the North East University’s Safety Group.
8that a meeting of the University’s Departmental Safety Officers was held.
679 Student Health Report
It was noted:
1that the next Healthy Universities Network meeting is scheduled for 11th November. There will be a presentation from the NUS on the Alcohol Impact Projectat the meeting.
2that the Extra Life project groups are finalising their 18 month action plans.
3that work is continuing on the Better Health at Work Silver Award.
4that engagement by staff and students with Extra Life has been encouraging and the Festival of Wellbeing has had extra sessions added due to its popularity.
5that work on the UNICEF baby friendly initiative has stalled following a staffing change and there have been a couple of requests from Students regarding pregnancy risk assessments and breast feeding.
6that the Dry Bar, a pop up bar designed to use at events, has been popular and received much positive feedback.
7that a Community Growing Site based at Albert Park is continuing to develop.
8that the sexual health clinics have recommenced and negotiations with Public Health and Virgin Care for a nurse to attend these sessions are ongoing.
9that the University finished in first place for the Love to Ride Tees Valley Cycling Challenge.
10thata Meningitis Awareness Campaign was run during Freshers Week and further campaigns are planned throughout the year.
11that the Wellbeing Services Co-ordinator met with colleagues from Learning Development to propose new staff development activities including Mindfulness and Mental Health First Aid.
12that Health and Fitness membership is up 5% on last year with the Olympia Building refurbishment cited as a contributory factor.
13that there is a proposal to run a Health Champions recruitment/Extra Life launch event on Campus before Christmas.
14that International Students were given TB screening forms at their orientation event and screening clinics which will be held on Campus have been arranged for November and December.
680Accident Statistics Report
It was noted:
1that there had been 28 minor accidents between 1 May and 30 September 2015, 22 involving staff, 4 involving students and 2 involving Contractors.
2that in this period 2 accidents were reportable to the HSE and details of these accidents were reported to the committee.
681Major Incident and Management and Guidance
It was noted:
1that the Emergency Procedures Guidance had been updated and was distributed to all relevant parties.
2that no duties changed as a result of the update.
3that the update was predominantly changes in job titles and phone numbers.
682Snow and Ice Clearing Procedure
It was noted:
1that the Snow and Ice Clearing Procedure has been updated to reflect the changes to the University Campus.
2that the Snow and Ice Clearing Plan has been updatedto reflect the changes to the University Campus.
3that principle routes will be safe to use.
4that the Assistant Director of Campus Services recommended changes to the layout of the procedure document.
It was agreed:
5 to reposition the limitations section in the procedure document.
683 Traffic Management Review
It was noted:
1that there has been a Campus traffic management review, carried out by Health and Safety and Estates following which a series of changes were agreed.
2that the UNISON representative identified that the cobbles in the Campus Heart area make it difficult to transport goods using trolleys.
684Frequency of Health and Safety Committee Meetings
It was noted:
1that a proposal to reduce the frequency of Health and Safety Committee meetings to twice a year was suggested to the committee.
It was agreed:
2to reduce the frequency of the Health and Safety Committee meetings to twice a year.
685 Any Other Business
It was noted:
1that the UCU representative raised a concern over access to the University’s website to obtain Health and Safety information.
2that the Assistant Director, Campus Services identified that there may be an under reporting of accidents.
3that the Students’ Union Representative raised the possibility of introducing allocated ‘Smoking Areas’ such as smoking shelters.
4that the Well-being Services Co-ordinator enquired whether there were any plans to improve the ‘No Smoking’ signage in the Campus Heart.
5that more permanent ‘No Smoking’ signage is planned following a review.
It was agreed:
6to raise the proposal to introduce ‘Smoking Areas’ at the next Executive Health and Safety Committee meeting.
686Date and Time of Next Meeting
It was noted:
1that the date of the next meeting would be confirmed at a later date.