Department of Psychology Health and Safety Policy Statement
Updated October 2015
The information provided in this policy document should be used in conjunction
with the department’s 'Health & Safety Manual' and the University `Health &
Safety Codes of Practice'.
The Department of Psychology is committed to safeguarding the health, safety and
welfare at work of all departmental staff, students and visitors as part of its legal
obligation to current H&S legislation.
Moreover, the department believes that working to legally acceptable minimum
standards is not sufficient and continually strives towards creating a culture of health
and safety designed to exceed these minimum standards at every opportunity.
The Head of Department accepts ultimate responsibility for safety in the department
but all staff and students have a legal obligation to act in a responsible and proactive
manner regarding their own safety and the safety of others at work. It is expected that
anyone in a supervisory role will take responsibility for the safety of those in their
charge. Every individual who supervises or controls an activity is responsible for
ensuring that the activity is conducted safely. They are responsible for ensuring a
suitable and sufficient risk assessment is performed, that significant findings are
recorded, that appropriate control measures are introduced, that anyone involved in
the process is aware of the risk assessment and that such risk assessments are
reviewed as necessary. Some members of staff also have specialist responsibilities in
particular areas.
The Psychology Management Group (PMG) is responsible for setting policy on safety
matters acting on advice from the Departmental Health & Safety Committee, which is
also responsible for the implementation of such policy. The policy will be continually
reviewed and developed as current legislation changes and new legislation is
introduced. The management group will provide, wherever possible, the necessary
resources, time, training and funds to maintain and improve safety.
The department is located in the following buildings:
 The main Psychology Building at Western Bank (Building 0705)
 The Clinical Psychology Unit (300/302 Western Bank, buildings 0703 and
0704)
 Mushroom Lane Annexe (358/360 Mushroom Lane, Building 0702)
 Alfred Denny, Floor B1 at Western Bank (Building 1208)
References to the ‘Department of Psychology’ refers to all the above areas.
The Department of Psychology is also a participating department in Sheffield
Robotics, which is based at the Pam Liversidge Building. The other departments are
Automated Control and Systems Engineering and the Department of Computing
Science. The responsibility for health and safety policy implementation is shared
between all three departments.
The implementation of this policy across all departmental sites and buildings, to
include all staff, students and visitors, is demonstrated in the following ways:
1/ The provision of the Departmental Safety Manual to all staff and students within
the Department. This is available online.
2/ Departmental Health and Safety Committee.
Membership:
Prof Paul Overton
Mr Andrew Bassett
Mrs Natalie Kennerley
Prof Paul Norman
Ms Sarah Radgick
Mr Andy Ham
Mr Len Hetherington
Dr James law
Head of Department
Technical Operations Manager - Chair
Departmental Safety Officer
Psychology Academic Representative
Representative of Clinical Psychology Unit
Psychology Workshop Representative
Deputy Safety Officer and DSE Assessor
Sheffield Robotics H & S Representative
Terms of Reference
These are laid out in the University’s Code of Practice and are governed by the
department being a Type 1 Department.
The Committee reports directly to Head of Department, Psychology Management
Group and Staff Committee. Minutes from the meetings are available in the Virtual
Office. The Committee meets three times per academic year to perform the following:

Monitor the effectiveness of health, safety and welfare arrangements in the
department and make recommendations and prepare policy proposals for
consideration by Head of Department and the Psychology Management Group
and to other groups or committees as appropriate.

Receive reports, inspections, audits and incident recording from departmental,
University or external sources and consider and take action as appropriate on
these reports.

To review health & safety processes and procedures to ensure that they
comply with relevant legislation and meet current University requirements.

Consider and approve amendments to the department’s safety manual.

Monitor the suitability and adequacy of health and safety training and
communication across the department.

Set up and monitor working parties as appropriate to address specific issues.
3/ Safety Procedures.

CoSHH
o Before any experimental procedure involving the use of chemicals or
reagents is undertaken, potential hazards must be identified, an
assessment made of the risks posed by these hazards and appropriate
control measures implemented in the work activity. This risk
assessment is a legal requirement to comply with the Control of
Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH) Act and is the responsibility
of the research workers supervising the research projects.
o Before undertaking any existing experimental procedures, all members
of staff or students involved in the procedure must read the relevant,
existing CoSHH assessments.

Good Lab Practice
o Common sense at all times!
o Never eat or drink in the laboratory
o Never apply cosmetics in the laboratory.
o Wash your hands in the designated sinks whenever you have finished
your lab work.
o Be familiar with the potential hazards involved in your work and take
appropriate precautions.
o Wear PPE as required. Lab coats are an absolute minimum.
o Keep work areas clean and tidy.
o Dispose of waste materials via the appropriate waste stream.
o Use appropriate care with electrical equipment.
o Use appropriate care with sharps
o Use appropriate care with substances of extreme temperatures (liquid
nitrogen or hot liquids).
o Operate, maintain and service all your equipment properly, if in doubt
ask!
o Work in appropriate containment hoods where necessary.

Risk Assessments
o A risk assessment must be undertaken on all operations or processes
which may be hazardous to the operator or those participating in the
process. Those using such processes must familiarise themselves with
the risk assessment before starting work.

Out of hours working
o Out of hours working is considered to be between 6pm and 8am, Mon–
Fri or weekends, bank holidays and closure dates. Any member of the
department working during these periods must have up to date fire
training, out of hours training and have performed a risk assessment
for their work. Departmental permission is required for out of hours
work during the Christmas closure period.
o Undergraduate students must not work out of hours under any
circumstances.

Occupational Health Screening
o Members of staff and students who are exposed to LAAs (laboratory
animal allergens) must undergo an annual, occupational health check
to monitor for any changes in their lung function which may be
attributable to LAA exposure.

DSE
o In order to reduce the risk of injury, users of Display Screen
Equipment (DSE) are required to have their workstations assessed.
o The University has put in place an online DSE training system to meet
its responsibilities. All staff and students that fall under the definition
of a ‘user’ are required to undertake this training. The department also
has a trained DSE assessor who can help set up DSE equipment
including the chair and workstation.
4/ Induction and training.
 The department ensures that all new members of staff (academic, research
associates, professional services) undergo an induction process during which
they are introduced to health and safety legislation and their responsibilities
and mandatory training requirements under this legislation.
 Postgraduates are inducted as a group during their first week at the department
and undergo a health and safety seminar.
 The department will provide all necessary information, instruction, training
and supervision to maintain a safe working environment and safe methods of
operation
5/ Maintenance and servicing of equipment.
 The department will ensure equipment under its control is serviced and
maintained regularly and removed from use and repaired as soon as possible
in the event of a fault developing.
6/ Ensure immediate and accurate reporting and investigation of accidents and
incidents.
 This will be done via the Departmental Health and Safety Committee
7/ Safety is the responsibility of all. All staff and students are encouraged and
expected to have an input into safety policy by raising issues with their supervisors,
Safety Committee representative, via Staff Meetings or at the Staff/Student
Committee. It takes a commitment from each individual to maintain a safe working
environment for all. This commitment is expected from each and every member of
staff and student.