Minutes of the meeting of the Cass Health & Safety Committee on 19 September 2005
Summary
Routine circulation of minutes
Recommended Action
For noting, comment and action as appropriate
Publication: Open
Present: Henrietta Royle (Chairman) Richard Verrall
Tracey Foster Michelle Garnier
Javed Ishaq
Apologies: Imran Ahmed
Leslie Baldwin
In attendance: Catherine Stokes
1.
Minutes of Last Meeting
Minutes read and accepted as a true record of the previous meeting.
2. Matters Arising
New emergency procedures – The SLO confirmed that the written procedure for emergency procedures would be completed by the time of the Health and Safety Audit on 14 October.
Action: SLO
Theft from offices – The police were informed about this and the SLO confirmed that the Facilities Manager would report on the matter at the next meeting.
Action: Facilities Manager
It was agreed that the other matters arising would be deferred to the next meeting when the Facilities Manager would be present.
3. Area H & S Management Plan
Field Trips
The SLO confirmed that she had spoken to the Deputy Dean and that he would invite course directors and lecturers to inform DSLOs when they are taking students on a field trip in order for risk assessments to be carried out.
Action: Deputy Dean
PUWER Assessment
The SLO confirmed that she and the Facilities Manager had developed a PUWER assessment system.
Risk Register
The SLO confirmed that she has developed a risk register.
Risk Assessments
The SLO reported that the DSLOs are carrying out risk assessments at the moment in time for the Health and Safety Audit.
Leaver’s Forms
Leaver’s forms are to be given to the Facilities department in order for Reception to be aware who should not be admitted into the building.
4. Health and Safety Training
The SLO reported that the areas for training include refreshers and primary training for first aiders and fire wardens, amongst others.
5. SLO Forum Accidents and Incidents Reports
The SLO reported that there had been seven accidents since the last Committee meeting:
1. 26 July: a general assistant from the Facilities department cut his nose whilst changing a glass noticeboard. Basic first aid was administered.
2. 29 July: a student ran into the glass door outside. Basic first aid was administered.
3. 10 August: a student ran into the glass door outside. Basic first aid was administered.
4. 9 September: a member of staff at Parkes hit her head with a sack barrow. Basic first aid was administered.
5. 9 September: a member of staff at Parkes hit her head on an open window. Basic first aid was administered.
6. 13 September: a member of staff at Parkes cut her hand on a lock. Basic first aid was administered.
7. 14 September: a student ran into the glass door outside. Basic first aid was administered.
6. Managers’ Health and Safety Inspection
The SLO reported that the Managers’ Health and Safety Inspection is scheduled to happen every six months. The SLO is to follow this up.
Action: SLO
7. Area Risk Register
The SLO reported that the Area Risk Register has been started to show which risk assessments have been completed and also what to look out for.
8. New Safety Procedures and Guidance
The SLO sent out a new fire warden’s plan last week.
Disabled Students
The SLO reported that the policy for the evacuation for disabled students in the event of a fire is as follows: the Disability Office at the University informs the SLO of any disabled students at Cass and she, in turn, informs the fire wardens. Each disabled student has a personal evacuation plan. The SLO will investigate a facility which triggers hearing aids when the fire alarm goes off. She will also redistribute the safety procedure and guidance.
Action: SLO
Stress Management
All line managers are to be trained to complete risk assessments for stress amongst their employees. The Chairman stated that the training should be held at Cass in order to encourage the managers to attend. The Human Resources Advisor agreed to give the SLO a list of line managers to facilitate this process.
Action: HR Advisor
The SLO agreed to discuss with the Deputy Dean who should complete this training on the academic side of the staff as it is not always clear who the line managers are.
Action: SLO
Stress is detected through Cardinus and the SLO agreed to monitor this.
Action: SLO
9. Health and Safety Promotion Campaigns and Communication
Website
There is a link on the Cass Health and Safety webpage to the University’s Health and Safety procedures page. The SLO and Facilities Manager are hoping to set up a more informative website containing the minutes of these meetings and all Health and Safety plans.
Action: SLO and Facilities Manager
Noticeboards
The idea of Health and Safety noticeboards was mooted, but the Group was unsure where they should be placed. The Chairman suggested that course offices and staff kitchens would be good places. The SLO agreed that this would be a long-term project.
Action: SLO
10. SLO’s Report
The SLO reported that a Health and Safety Audit will be taking place on 14 October, which will follow on from the previous one. The SLO is confident that Cass will pass as she is addressing all of the audit’s points. She reported that she has had to start all of these from scratch as she was unable to find any documentary evidence that the former SLO had completed any of the recommendations from last year’s audit.
The SLO reported that she has created risk assessments for field trips. An assessment must be carried out for any trip outside the School.
The Chairman suggested to the SLO that she should liaise with the Directors of Communications regarding the crisis communications she has with the University.
Action: SLO
11. Noise in Open Plan Due to Building Work
RV stated that there needs to be a policy on how to handle building work noise due to the disruption it causes to those working in open plan areas. The Chairman agreed that a procedure must be put in place and the SLO agreed to carry out risk assessments for any future building work carried out during working time and for all staff affected to be informed.
Action: SLO
12. Health and Safety Checklist for Managers
The SLO reported that the Health and Safety Checklist for Managers had been completed.
13. Last Week’s Fire Alarm
The SLO reported that last week’s fire alarm had been caused by a power surge on the grid.
14. Any Other Business
Visiting and Guest Lecturer Inductions
The SLO, HR Advisor, Events Manager and ZK have met to organise Visiting and Guest Lecturer inductions. The SLO will send materials to Visiting and Guest Lecturers with a health and safety checklist for them to sign and return to her. The Chairman suggested that it would be helpful if there were floor plans showing the emergency exits in the section which they cover on the walls to aid evacuation. The SLO agreed to do this.
Action: SLO
Bomb Evacuation Plan
The SLO and Facilities Manager are to hold a bomb evacuation practice with staff on one or two floors in order to ascertain how many people can be housed on the lower ground floor.
PACE Administrator
The SLO is looking for someone to be a PACE Administrator for the Cardinus results in order to alleviate her workload. She is waiting to hear back from Marilyn Parris to find out if she would like to do it.
Health and Safety Committee Group E-Mail
The SLO agreed to set up a group e-mail for the Health and Safety Committee in order to facilitate communication.
The next meeting will be held on
Publication: Open
The agenda, papers and minutes of meetings of the Cass Business School Health & Safety Committee, produced in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, are accessible via City University’s Publication Scheme. Papers marked as “closed” are exempt from the Scheme; these papers will not be published, at least in the first instance. All other papers are categorised as “open” and are published without hesitation.
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