Essential Health and Safety Management Guide for Principal Investigators and Managers

1. Leading Health and Safety at Work Health and Safety Management Responsibilities of Principal Investigators and Managers

2. Why Health and Safety Is Important • Reputation • University of Nottingham aims for excellence in teaching and research • Quality in teaching and research is achieved through quality in all aspects of operations. • Bad publicity from unsafe, unhealthy or environmentally damaging events undermines this. • Moral imperative • To provide a safe and healthy working environment • Clear conscience

3. Why Health and Safety Is Important • Legal requirements • Law specifies standards • Penalties if not followed • Financial Reasons • Staff absences • Lost output/data • Damaged equipment • Compensation pay-outs and insurance premiums • Uninsured costs >>> Insured costs

4. Legal Environment • Statutory Law • Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 • Duties towards employees, students and visitors • Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, health, safety and welfare at work • Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 • Duties on manager to ensure the above • Risk assessment!!! • Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 • Death resulting from systemic failures to manage health and safety • Implies senior management failures in risk management • See Podcast for further information

5. Penalties • Prosecution – fines and imprisonment. • Prohibition Notice – stop work now • Improvement notices – put certain measure in place within a specified time • Corporate Manslaughter Penalties • Unlimited fine • Publicity order

6. Civil Liability Common Law Duty of Care owed to employees, students & visitors. Failure can result in personal injury claims for negligence.

7. Organisation – lines of responsibility

8. Safety Responsibilities Risk assessment Training Competency Supervision Monitoring Detailed information can be found in the University’s Safety Management Standard:‘Effective Safety Management’: http://nottingham.ac.uk/safety/safety-management/esm/effective-safety.aspx

9. Risk Assessment For all hazardous activities/procedures New procedures New & existing equipment Written SOPs [standard operating procedures] Signed off by PI/Snr academic/manager

10. Risk Assessment continued • Procedural • Substances [ e.g.chemicals, biological material] • Equipment • Manual handling • Cylinders • Cryogenics • DSE • Lone working

11. Training & Competence Identify training needs – initial & ongoing Ensure training delivered by competent person Assess competency Record training and attainment of competency (specific record form, PSRF or e lab book)

12. Training Delivery • University & External courses • Local induction • Job/task specific training (techniques & equipment) • Refresher training • When procedure/equipment changes • High risk operations • Infrequent operations • Following accident/incident • Where competency is in question

13. Competency Assessment • Assess practical skills & knowledge • Assessment by competent person • Methods of assessment • Written test [ e.g. induction questionnaire • Verbal discussion/questioning • Observation [ for practical tasks] • Self assessment [ where appropriate] • Continual assessment – ensure standards maintained

14. Supervision Source HSE – HSG 65 Levels of supervision are determined by: • the severity of the hazard and • the complexity of the control measures required to reduce risk • the competence of the person

15. Monitoring • Active monitoring • Local housekeeping checks – recorded. • Regular meetings [ present findings of above] • Regular entry into the lab by PI – to check • School safety inspections & audits • Accident/incident/near misses • Reported • Investigated

16. Remember You can delegate safety management duties You cannot delegate legal responsibility You remain accountable in law for the safety of students/staff that you manage/supervise